The Shadow
by awsomerebel55
Summary: The world is corrupt, tailor made by fools that allow evil and scum to prosper in the darkness created by their 'Light'. A dark hero has returned from oblivion. Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of man? The Shadow knows.
1. Shadow Born

A stormy dark night covered the sky over the kingdom of Vale. The lights of the buildings flickered amidst the harsh rain. Some of the buildings were coming apart from the constant battling between the police and the other forces. The only lights that stood against the darkness were those highlights that were used to illuminate the sky. Some patrols drove by the street at high speed through the rain chasing another car and some other cars kept on going their own way.

On top of a tall dark building stood a lone figure. Sitting amongst the large gargoyles was a man dressed in black. The man wore a black armored suit that resembled an aviator's jacket black pants, black leather gloves, a utility belt with two twin semi-automatic pistols with spiked butts, black combat boots. All that underneath a black cape with red inside. His head and face were covered by a black mask with aviator goggles and a black fedora. But amongst all of those things the most iconic piece was the long red scarf that was wrapped around his lower face.

This man was The Shadow.

The rain poured on him but it was like it didn't bother him. If anything The Shadow sat there like a guarding dark knight.

 _"The kingdom of Vale. Some call it the best of the four kingdoms, but those people don't know a damn thing. No place is perfect, I learned this at a very early age. It has been fifteen years since that day, and I still feel like it's just one day ago. The day I lost a big part of my little world. Growing up kids are told that the world is a wonderful place being protected by the Huntsmen. Lies. Even now after all this time I can still remember that night, the night when it all began."_

* * *

It was a bright day as a young boy ran around a big house. He wore a white shirt and a pair of brown shorts. He had black hair and green eyes and played around like there was no ill in the world.

"Lamont, don't go around the house without telling me!" called out a voice

The young boy, named Lamont, looked up and saw his father walking towards him wearing blue polo shirt, dark blue pants, and blue shoes. He had short black hair and a pair of glasses on his face.

"But dad, come on that's what makes it fun." said Lamont before his father held his hand.

"I know that. But dinner is ready, and uncle Arron made it back in time." said the father

"Really? I thought he'd be working late tonight?" asked Lamont as they walked to the dinner.

They made it to the dinner where a tall man with a shaved head and a mustache. He wore a black t-shirt, a cargo pants, combat boots, and had a red scarf wrapped around his right arm.

"Hey Michelangelo, I see you found the little rascal. Hey Lamont, how you've been?" asked Arron as he shuffled Lamont's hair. "I still can't believe you gave the kid such a lame name."

The now named Michelangelo rolled his eyes at his brother's comment.

 _"This was my family. It was small but I loved them regardless. My father worked with my grandfather at the family newspaper, Pulp News. My uncle Arron worked as a private detective but also did some odd jobs around the kingdom. The problems of the world were nothing but a far away storm."_

All three of them sat down on a table and began eating their pizza. Sadly the grandfather would be caught in the middle of some work and wouldn't be joining them.

"So, Lamont, what do you want to be when you grow up?" asked Arron

"Arron, he's still a little young for that. He still needs to go to college." said Michelangelo

"I want to become a Huntsman. They are so cool and awesome. Who wouldn't want to be a legendary hero like them? Like in all those stories and legends." said Lamont

Both Arron and Michelangelo shared a nasty look, obviously not agreeing with the young man's claim.

"Son, you do know that all those are just legends right?" asked Michelangelo

"Oh come on dad, people can be that good right?" asked Lamont

"Yeah, there are good people but there are a lot of bad guys out there. Life isn't a fairy tale." said Michelangelo

Lamont only grunted in disagreement.

"Listen to your old man Lam, life isn't always black and white. You just have to do what you can, and who knows, maybe you'll make a difference." said Arron causing Lamont to smile widely.

Just then a door opened up and an old voice called out.

"I can't believe you guys started out without me? I hope you saved me some." said the voice.

"Grandpa!" called Lamont before going to the door.

 _"Yes, troubles seemed very far away. But just because troubles seem far away, it doesn't mean that they won't come your way."_

* * *

The world turned black as a pair of flashing red and blue lights brought a new world into view. The day was stormy and rain poured through the streets.

A pair of officers had arrived at their front door with bad news.

Right next to the young boy was an elderly man that looked to be in his fifties. He wore a black buttoned up shirt, caky pants and brown shoes. This was Bruce Cranston, the head of the Cranston family.

"Gentlemen, explain to me what happened?" asked the elderly man.

"It appears that your son and his brother where found in a car crash, forgot to put on their seat belts." said the officer

"What are you talking about?" asked Bruce

"They are both dead sir." said the officer

Lamont Cranston's world had been shattered into a million pieces.

"How did this happened? How could it happen?" asked the young boy as tears began to swell.

"Lamont, son." said the elderly man kneeling next to the boy.

* * *

Two days later the funeral had taken place and a few people were paying their respects to the family. Lamont stood face to face with the grave stones. His father's was next to his mother and his uncle's laid next to their's.

In his father's gravestone it read; Michelangelo Cranston, beloved son and father rest in peace.

In his mother's gravestone it read; Margo Cranston, beloved mother and devoted wife, rest in peace.

In his uncle's gravestone it read; Arron Cranston, beloved son and uncle, rest in peace.

Young Lamont's heart laid in pieces. First his mother had died before he could ever meet her and now his father and uncle had died by an accident. That last part truly confused Lamont. His father and uncle always told him to put on his seatbelt whenever he entered a car and they did as much as they preached.

"Lamont. Do you want to go home?" asked Bruce appearing next to the young boy.

"They always drove carefully. Even uncle Arron didn't drive recklessly. They'd never forget to put on their seatbelts. This doesn't make any sense." said Lamont

Bruce looked sadly at his grandson and then kneeled next to him.

"Son, come with me." said Bruce as Lamont began to follow him.

Lamont followed his grandfather into the large home until they found themselves in a large studio. Bruce grabbed open one of the drawers of the large desk. From inside the drawer, Bruce pulled out a set of papers and records that read about several gangs and underground businesses.

"What is that?" asked Lamont

"This, was a case that your uncle and father were working on. Some shady operations and gang activity, drug rings and weapon smuggling. They had found out who were the corrupt agents and their leaders. The night of the accident they were going to expose all of this." said Bruce

"Why didn't they take this to the Huntsmen? They could've helped." said Lamont

"Lamont...They were working with Huntsmen and some of they were working for the people doing these things." said Bruce

The young boy couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it. Huntsmen were Lamont's heroes and now his grandfather was telling him that they were responsible for the death of his father and uncle.

Tears began to swell on Lamont's eyes and a great anger began rising. It was almost as if he could a dark rage that went deeper than any other emotion he'd ever felt. Lamont was shaking in rage, at how unfair the world was.

Lamont began to cry as he ran out of the house. Lamont ran faster and faster through the forest until he reached the streets of Vale. Lamont looked around in search of the answers he wanted and needed more than anything.

 _"I wanted so badly to prove my grandfather wrong. I didn't care about anything else. What a fool I was. But it was what I needed to face."_

Lamont ran through the streets until he found himself on one of the darker parts of the city.

Lamont saw a group of men loading up a large number of boxes into a truck. Not wanting to be seen by the men, Lamont hid behind some of the large metal trash cans as the men continued doing their thing. Just then one of the boxes fell down and broke open spilling several cases of illegal weapons and dust.

"Hey, careful with that! The buyers won't pay top dollar for dented goods! We already had trouble with that nosy reporter." said one of the men as two of the men picked up the spilled merchandise.

"What's going on there?" called a voice.

Lamont turned to see a pair of Huntsmen and a police officer. Lamont recognized the cop as the one that went to his home to tell him the horrible news.

The officer and the Huntsmen pulled out their guns and aimed them at the criminals.

"Alright creeps, you're under arrest for illegal smuggling of dust and weapons. Hands in the air or we'll open fire." said the officer

The criminals did as the officer told them.

Lamont smiled knowing that everything was going to be alright, but he was about to be proven wrong.

"Go call for reinforcements." said one of the Hunstmen

Just as the officer was about to call for back up to make the arrest, a blade came out from behind the officer's back. The blade had come from the weapon of the second Hunstman. The chilling sight of the officer spewing blood would haunt Lamont for a long time.

The huntsman pulled out his blade and the officer fell down dead.

"You guys are getting sloppy. This is the second time this week we clean up after you." said the Huntsman

"Whatever, you still get paid anyway." said one of the criminals as he pulled out a small stack of Lien and gave it to the Huntsman.

The group began laughing as they were still being paid by their work.

Lamont wanted to scream, this couldn't be happening. Huntsmen were supposed to keep the peace and protect the innocent not being paid off by a couple of criminals.

At that moment the criminals were dragging the body towards the trash cans. Lamont kept low as he tried to slip unnoticed but he accidentally knocked down one of the glass bottles shattering it.

"Who's out there?" called out the criminals

Lamont threw caution to the wind and began running as far as his legs would take him. The Huntsmen and the criminals saw this and quickly started their pursuit.

Lamont could hear his heart beating faster and faster, the fear of death and his ideals being shattered fueled the young man.

Lamont couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it. But what he saw proved what his grandfather had told him to be true. The world was just as dark as his grandfather had told him. As Lamont ran he began hearing things all around him, voices and dark thoughts about almost any and all forms of depravity.

 _"That night, it all began. That night Lamont Cranston died."_

Lamont tripped and fell to the ground. The criminals and the rogue Huntsmen caught up to Lamont who tried to get away but to no avail. Lamont turned when he heard a gun cocking.

"Sorry kid, wrong place and the wrong time." said the rogue Huntsman with a wicked grin.

The trigger was slowly pressed as Lamont's fear turned to rage. And in a final attempt to fight the inevitable Lamont released a loud and defiant scream.

"NNNNOOOOOO!" screamed Lamont as the bullet flew at him and his eyes turned red.

 _"And the Shadow was born."_

Everything laid still including the bullet. Everyone was frozen in place all except Lamont that looked straight at the bullet coming at him. Lamont's head was on fire as not only the criminals and the bullet were frozen but any and all people and animals in the neighborhood were frozen in place.

However, there was only one person that was immune to the paralyzing psychic wave. The sound of someone walking towards the scene grew louder and louder until Bruce appeared before Lamont.

"You gave me a scare back there son. I thought you'd be a little older before you'd be capable of this." said Bruce as he stood before Lamont.

"Grandpa? What's happening?" asked Lamont as Bruce grabbed the bullet out of the air.

"I'll tell you in a second. Let me take care of this scum." said Bruce as his tone grew darker and pulled a semi-automatic gun.

In the blink of an eye, the criminals were shot square in the head by Bruce just in time for their minds to be unclouded.

Lamont looked at his grandfather and saw how his eyes had turned red much like his.

"If you want to know more about our family, I can show you." said Bruce as he held out his hand.

A sense of fear came over him but something else took its place, rage. Lamont took his grandfather's hand, tiered of being afraid of the darkness.

* * *

 _"That night I was reborn in that gutter. I know the darkness that plagues this world. The lies about the kingdoms being safe and that the Huntsmen were great protectors. I will forever fight this war against the worst of humanity."_

The Shadow looks upon the dark city and how the siren lights call him to action. The Shadow stood up and then disappeared amidst the darkness of the shadows.

 _"Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of man?...The Shadow knows."_

 ** _MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA..._**


	2. Shadow Rising pt 1

In the kingdom of Vale, there are a few papers and news services that gave the real story to the people of the kingdom. One of these is none other than the Pulp News, a well recognized newspaper that not only informs the people of the events and news of Vale but to some of the other kingdoms as well. Here is where a young twenty five year old Lamont Cranston worked.

Lamont Cranston was now a well built young man with short black hair, green eyes and a small scar across his left eye brow. He wore a white buttoned up shirt with pulled up sleeves, beige jean pants and a pair of brown shoed.

"Alright team, we need to know what's going on with the latest dust robberies and what are the police doing about it. We have a deadline for tonight." said Lamont.

Lamont was one of the editors that the paper had and many people liked him as he always treated people fairly. Others saw that he had a very strong moral fiber because he didn't allow any form of discrimination. His team often consisted of both Humans and Faunus, men and women working together. The group that he was talking to was more than ready to get to work. Some then went to their different desks and started working on their assignment while others set out to get information from the street.

Just as Lamont was going to his own desk when a tall woman walked in front of him. She had long brown hair tied in a pony tail, fair skin, deep green eyes, and wore a blue suit jacket, short blue skirt, a red shirt, and red mid heel shoes. Her name was Margaret Lane, Margo for friends. She was Lamont's closest friend since Elementary school, she always had that need to find stuff out and figuring mysteries and she always had that sneaky look in her eyes. Much like right now.

"Hello, Margo, do you have something for me?" asked Lamont

"Not much, but I have some scoops about some shady businesses going on in the docks. Do you want to hear them?" asked Margo.

"Is it like one of the pick pocket ring from last month?" asked Lamont in a joking manner.

"Very funny, Lam. No, this is legit. Over the last couple of months some of the manifestos of the ship yard have been irregular and a certain shady Mr. Lombar has been spotted a couple of times those months." said Margo

"Mr. Lombar, shouldn't he be under house arrest?" asked Lamont

"You know how some people can get out of those situations. I was wondering what they are transporting that is so important, if you want to join me." said Margo

"I'll speak to one of my friends that work at the docks. He might know something. I'll tell you if something is going on." said Lamont earning a nasty look from Margo.

"Is this because of the Spider Incident? Because that wasn't my fault." said Margo

Lamont gave Margo a skeptical, yet joking look. They had been friends for such a long time and despite their relationship being more work related, they still could call one another on their flaws.

"No, this is about sneaking into a biker club where a known psychopath made his hangout. My grandfather may let you play the fearless fem fatal but I'm not." said Lamont

Margo just let out a ticked off snort before giving Lamont her notes and going to her desk.

Lamont looked at her notes and then went to visit his grandfather in his office. Even in his advanced age Bruce Cranston was as sharp as ever and would not retire even if the Council members themselves would come and ask him to do so.

Lamont entered the office as Bruce finished listening to his messages. The office was full of papers, some awards that the paper had won over the years, and pictures of different moments such as parties and special events most of them being family events.

"Well, anything?" asked Bruce

"I'll be going out tonight. Margo just confirmed what we've been looking for." said Lamont

"Good, are you ready?" asked Bruce

"I am. The Shadow is always ready." said Lamont as a shadow crossed his face.

* * *

Lamont and Bruce went back to their home and went into the back room of the house. They both looked at an old painting of their family. It had Lamont as a young boy, his father, uncle and grandpa Bruce with his grandmother, a elderly Faunus woman with a couple of cat ears and wore a beautiful white dress and sat next to her husband.

"I miss them everyday." said Lamont

"As do I. But they and many more are the reason we do this." said Bruce as he pressed a hidden button underneath the paint frame.

Once the button was pressed a solid stone door opened up and moved back. Lamont and Bruce walked into the hole until they found a set of stairs that went down. They went down the stairs until they found themselves in a large hidden base with training equipment, some ancient weapons and modern gun weapons and a set of computers.

"Time to go to the docks and see what Lombar is smuggling and for who." said Lamont as he looked at his uniform.

"Then you should get going." said Bruce as he pulled up a file on Lombar.

Lamont looked at the file as he studied all the traits that he thought would need.

Lombar was a man around his forties with brown hair, and beard, and wore a black leather jacket, white shirt, black pants and had the look of a tough enforcer. He was a small time smuggler that posed as a trader of fine arts. He usually brought pieces from Atlas, Menagerie, and Mistral but his best pieces were the smuggled illegal guns, drugs and sometimes people.

"Tonight he goes down." said Lamont before reaching for his suit and guns.

* * *

Night had fallen and the Shadow was now on the hunt for the vicious smuggler. The Shadow stood on the rooftop of one of the buildings near the docks as he began observing the arrival of the cargo ship.

The Shadow pulled out a pair of binoculars and watched Lombar's men were all waiting for the ship to be fully docked to then unload the smuggled cargo. The Shadow observed some people talking and others smoking as the ship finished its docking. Then he appeared, Lombar himself was there with his personal muscle to back him up.

"Come on, move you useless mutts. You can rest when you're dead." said Lombar before all the workers got ready to bring down the merchandise.

"Enjoy this while it lasts, Lombar. I know what evil lurks in your heart." said the Shadow before jumping towards the docks.

The Shadow continued jumping form building to building until he dropped down to the street into the dark shadows. After landing on the dark street the Shadow ran and snuck into the shipping docks. Before getting in The Shadow crawled over the fence and snatched one of the guards from his post. The Shadow struck the back of the man's knees forcing him to the ground before taking his rifle and slamming the man into one of the crates breaking his nose.

The Shadow crawled on top of one of the large containers as silently as he could and just as he was nearing the entrance of the crate, The Shadow heard some voices underneath him.

The Shadow kneeled down and heard some crying inside the crate. The Shadow's eyes widen in anger. Before The Shadow could do anything he heard the men moving towards the ship and began unloading the cargo off of it.

The Shadow waited for all the workers to be in the same spot to take action, but before that he needed to take out one person. Using the darkness of the night the Shadow slowly went after one of the guards. In a swift movement, The Shadow wrapped his arm behind the guard's neck pulling him into the shadows before striking him in the back of the neck with the butt of his pistol. An electric discharge ran through the guard's body knocking him out cold, The Shadow then chained him to one of the containers and then proceeded with his plan.

Back with Lombar and his group of smugglers they had just gotten the last crate off of the ship and proceeded to open them.

"Now ain't they a beauty?" asked Lombar as he pulled out one assault rifle from the crate.

"Hey boss, who's the lucky fella that's getting these baby's?" asked one of the smugglers.

"Believe it or not, there are a few couple of people in this kingdom that want a little more 'protection'. And don't worry the pay for these is pretty good. If Atlas is good at anything then it's making stuff that kills." said Lombar as he inspected the rifle and more of his men were looking over the other goodies of the crates.

Just then a bullet flew through the cold night air hitting Lombar in his hand. Lombar screamed in pain as a bullet would began dripping blood.

The smugglers looked around for the shooter only to be surrounded by shadows without one living soul. Before any of the men could anything a large shadow was casted upon them. Everyone turned around and saw none other than The Shadow with his iconic scarf flying in the wind.

"One chance, drop your weapons and take your punishment like men." said the Shadow with authority.

"Who's this loser? Smoke him!" called out Lombar pointing at the Shadow.

The smugglers wasted no time pulling the triggers and firing at The Shadow. All the bullets flew directly at him but he didn't move an inch.

All the fire coming at him made The Shadow remember his training and how he learned of his abilities.

* * *

13 years ago...

A young Lamont Cranston was barely standing with wounds over his body. He was waring a martial arts training gi that had some torn parts and holes in it. The season was winter and he could see his breath, whatever he could muster anyway.

"Come on boy, this is only the beginning." said Bruce wearing a similar training gi.

Lamont wiped the blood from his nose and reassumed his combat position. Lamont charged at his grandfather once more, he started with a punch to the stomach, but Bruce blocked it with ease. Lamont then jumped and performed a spinning kick to his grandfather's head.

Bruce ducked under the spinning kick. Lamont lifted his left leg up high and then brought it down like an axe. Bruce jumped back dodging the attack and then skid to a halt.

"Do not rely solely on brutality. You must learn how to cloud your enemy's mind." said Bruce

"But I don't understand how that works. Is it like our semblance or something?" asked Lamont

"No. This is a power passed down for many generations in our family. It is a psychic ability that takes years to master. You must clear your mind, feel all the power within you and around you." said Bruce as his eyes turned red and his voice grew deeper.

Lamont looked in awe as his grandfather disappeared before his eyes. Lamont looked around for any signs of his grandfather but nothing was out of place. Not even a small foot print on the snow.

"When you cloud your enemy's mind, you'll have the advantage against any scenario." said Bruce nowhere in sight.

"That doesn't tell me how to do it. And how can you keep your mind cleared in the middle of a fight?" asked Lamont before Bruce appeared behind him.

"You can start by breathing deeply." said Bruce placing his hands on Lamont's shoulders.

Lamont closed his eyes and began concentrating on feeling his power and the energy around him. Lamont felt like his body was vibrating as a tingly sensation. He took in a deep breath and then opened his now red eyes.

* * *

Back in the present time, The Shadow's red eyes shun through his goggles making him invisible before the storm of bullets coming his way.

The barrage of bullets lit up the spot where The Shadow was standing. The metal was pierced and torn apart by the crazy amount of bullets. If anyone had seen those men firing they would've been compared to a bunch of monkeys playing with matches. After a minute of full on shooting, the smugglers stopped noticing that The Shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell is he?!" asked one of the smugglers.

"Find him!" ordered Lombar

The smugglers began looking around before a loud gunshot echoed through the docks. A bullet shot one of the smugglers signaling where The Shadow was. The smugglers turned around as they scurried to find The Shadow.

Just then The Shadow appeared before one of the smugglers, punching him across the face sending him to the ground. The remaining smugglers tried firing at The Shadow only to realize that they were out of bullets and that the Shadow had disappeared once more. Only that this didn't last long, as The Shadow appeared in the center of the group and began firing his own pistols at the smugglers.

The Shadow's bullets tore through the smugglers, hitting them in their chests and heads. One of the smugglers pulled out a knife and slashed at The Shadow. The Shadow dodged the attack and then struck the smuggler on the throat. Another smuggler attacked the Shadow but The Shadow caught his hand and with a swift knee broke his arm. The Shadow kicked the man in the stomach sending the man into the rest of the smugglers coming at him.

A third smuggler came at The Shadow with a blade but the Shadow caught the hand twisting it. The Shadow caught the blade before plunging it in the man's chest. The Shadow then disappeared once more before reappearing in front of another smuggler causing him to scream in terror. The Shadow landed a devastating blow on the man's face sending some of his teeth flying.

The remaining smugglers looked in horror as one single man had brought them all down and he didn't have a scratch on himself. Before they could put another though in their minds, The Shadow pulled out his pistols before opening fire on the remaining smugglers. The shots were swift and deadly.

All the smugglers laid dead on the ground and all seemed silent enough.

Just then a loud scream was heard behind the Shadow.

He turned around and saw Lombar with a gun holding a random Faunus woman hostage. The Shadow snarled at this.

"Stay back you freak! Or I'll put one in this bitch!" said Lombar as he held the gun on her temple.

The Shadow slowly walked towards Lombar, paying no heed to his threats.

"I'll do it! I swear!" said Lombar terrified as The Shadow shortened the distance between them more and more.

"Don't come any closer or she's dead!" said Lombar tightening his grip on the trigger.

Before the old man could pull the trigger, The Shadow stood before him gripping the hand with the gun away from the hostage.

"No...you won't." said The Shadow before delivering a punch square to the face of Lombar.

Lombar was out cold and the Shadow walked towards one of the crates. He kicked it open finding several women inside it. The Shadow wasted no time and began opening more and more containment units freeing the people, human and Faunus, inside them.

"Go. Now." said The Shadow and all the people did as he told them.

The Shadow walked towards Lombar and picked him up.

"Now, Mr. Lombar, time to talk." said The Shadow before his eyes shined red once more.

* * *

The day had arrived as Margo drank her coffee in her favorite coffee shop.

"Hey Margo, good morning." said Lamont before sitting down.

"Morning Lamont. So what did you want to tell me?" asked Margo putting her cup down.

"You were right. Lombar was into some dark business, and someone else got to him." said Lamont

"What?" asked Margo before Lamont showed her the notes he had. "You went there without me?!" asked Margo more angry than surprised.

"Just too verify. The story is still yours." said Lamont not wanting to get angrily chewed out by Margo.

"At least, I get some credit." said Margo slightly less angry.

"I also got a hit on who he was smuggling for, if you want to follow this story." said Lamont catching Margo's attention.

"I'm listening." said Margo as she read how an unknown man dressed in black eradicated Lombar and his men and he'd rescued some people from an awful fate.


	3. Shadow Rising pt 2

The entire kingdom was up in an uproar, not only because there had been a nasty smuggling operation happening right underneath their noses but there was a dark clad vigilante going around delivering justice at the end of a gun.

Several people thought that all this was ridiculous, the Council and the Huntsmen wouldn't allow something like this to happen. Others were not entirely convinced that this was possible, given that the witness statement came from people that had been drugged and held in captivity for some time.

However the place that had the most polemic was none other than Beacon. Since most of the students had to keep themselves busy with their studies that they weren't allowed to go out during the week. Half of the school believed that this was none sense and the other half thought that the one that did this was some sort of super huntsman that had declared war on crime.

Right now a group of first year students were reading the paper in the mess hall.

"Guys, are you seeing this?!" asked a young girl wearing a long red hood.

"I don't know Ruby, this sounds like fiction story. When I see him I'll believe it." said a long haired blond sitting next to the young girl.

"Be careful what you wish for, Yang." said the now named Ruby.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Cranston mansion, Lamont was adding his new findings from last night into the computer. It turned out that good old Mr. Lombar had a long list of buyers and people that had purchased some of his ill gotten goods.

"Rough night?" asked Bruce as he walked up to Lamont.

"Something like that." said Lamont as he finished typing in the information.

"What did you find?" asked Bruce

Lamont typed a few keys on the keyboard. A large web of connections appeared in the computers. The first picture showed Lombar around the middle of the web. It then connected with other blank pictures of people.

"Turns out that Mr. Lombar was one of several providers and smugglers that give different products to the different gangs and criminal organizations that use the kingdom as their base of operations." said Lamont

The web seemed to expand and showed that there were around five main people and groups that ran the gangs and had the control of the kingdom's underworld. The first one was a gang of Faunus motorcyclists called 'The Sons of Grimm', they were apparently knee deep in gun smuggling and money laundering. The second one was an elderly man named only M, with a long white beard, shriveled skin, and long black nails, and wore a long black tunic. He was cornering the market in chemicals and dangerous substances. The third one was a woman by the name of Black Dragon, and she had a long standing affinity for dust and precious rocks. The fourth one was a cloaked figure covered in White known only as L, he or she was interested in antique weapons and certain people which made him or her hard to find. The last one was a man by the name of Shiwan Khan, and he had his hands in almost everything; Drugs, substances, gun smuggling, protection of territory, among other things.

"These five seem to be the top dogs, I'll need to figure out who they are and learn more about their operations." said Lamont

"We have a list, that's a start." said Bruce

"Then I better get out there and figure out what they each are up to." said Lamont before heading to grab his gear.

Lamont grabbed one of his pistols and began examining it. He then pressed the release button to show the cartridge and began reloading the bullets. Lamont did the same thing with his secondary pistol. After finishing cleaning up the pistols Lamont went on to work on something else that he had been working on. The piece looked like a long bracelet with a long rotating cable attached to it and a metal blade connected next to it.

"I'll never understand what you and my son saw on those damn trinkets." said Bruce

"They work." said Lamont as he pulled out a screw driver.

Lamont began putting on the right pieces on the bracelet and motor with a smile on his face.

* * *

The next day Lamont was working on his computer back at Pulp News with the latest story that his reporters had brought to him. Some of the stories were useful for his investigations, others were of some very interesting stories that were happening in other kingdoms.

One of the stories was about one of the members of the Sons of Grimm, apparently one of their members had gotten in a nasty gunfight against the police after he had robbed a liquor store. The police had managed to get a description of the man. He was around thirty years of age, he had wolf ears, a black mane of hair and had wolf tattoo on his forehead. His name was Julius Jagger, aka Lamont's target for the next phase.

Another story was about a mysterious sighting in Vacuo about a bronze skinned man running around the wastelands. It sounded a little like science fiction but some of the accounts were quite convincing, but none had physical evidence and all photos were blurry at best thanks to the light reflecting off of the man's skin.

As amusing as it was to read about these strange occurrences, Lamont needed to find out about his newest list of enemies. Lamont was looking at the rough sketch that the police had gotten and he fit the description.

"Hey stranger." called out Margo getting Lamont off of his computer.

Lamont looked up and saw Margo leaning on the door.

"Margo, what can I do for you?" asked Lamont

"I want you to tell me about that night." said Margo sitting on one of the chairs before Lamont.

"I thought you made me swear never to speak about that _night_." said Lamont with a snicker.

" _Not that night._ The night of the dock incident." said Margo with a blush.

"Oh, why didn't you just say so? What do you want to know?" asked Lamont with an idea of what she wanted to talk about.

"Did you see anyone aside from the kidnapped victims, like say a huntsman wearing a black suit and a red scarf?" asked Margo

"I didn't and honestly I don't think that it was a huntsman." replied Lamont with a little anger in his tone.

"Why do you hold them in such contempt? You used to want to be one of them." said Margo

"Yeah, I used to. But then I saw that several of them just used that title to extort and exploit people." said Lamont

"Come on Lamont, you have to understand that not everything is black and white." said Margo with a little worry.

"I know, I know, it just...hurts knowing that your heroes failed you at such a hard time, and that some are only in it for the perks at others expense." said Lamont tightening his fist.

Margo saw this and grabbed hold of his hand comforting it. Lamont saw this and easily felt the warmth of her hand pushing all the anger out of him completely.

"Feel better?" asked Margo

"Yes, thanks Margo." said Lamont smiling.

* * *

Night had fallen and The Shadow was rushing from roof top to roof top before firing his grappling gun from his wrist mount. The cable flew through the night sky as dark clouds covered the shattered moon. The grappling flew directly at one of the tall buildings and imbedded itself on it.

The Shadow soared through the air, invisible to everyone below on the street. It was perfect for him to find his target, Julius Jagger.

According to the police report, Julius and his motorcycle buddies usually hanged out at a bar that they owned called 'Howl'. If he could find Julius and was able to make him open up and say what he and his pals were planning, then that would make things easier to stop them. If that's not the case, then The Shadow could always ask his pals, with a gun.

The Shadow landed on a roof top and looked down at the bar's entrance, the lights from below casted shadows that crossed his face and kept him hidden from sight. The door was painted like it was a wolf's mouth and a large red sign that spelled 'howl' was on top. Several bikes were parked at the entrance along with some of the gang's members. All of them were Faunus, most of them had wolf ears while there was one that had stag antlers and others had cat ears. They all wore leather jackets that had the gang's wolf insignia on their back.

At that moment the man that the Shadow had been looking for came out of the bar with some other members of the motorcycle gang.

The Shadow pulled back from his hiding spot as Julius and around five other of the members got on top of their bikes and rode off into the night. The Shadow went on pursuit of them with the aid of his grappling hook. The Shadow flew through the air keeping himself hidden from their sight until they reached a large storage warehouse in one of the abandoned parts of the kingdom.

Funny story, in Lamont's early career he had written an article about how one of the councilmen had promised to rebuild this part of the kingdom. It supposedly never got the proper funding to start the project. But in reality the councilman had taken all the money for himself and bought himself a bigger house, leaving this place ripe for scum to use as they please.

The Shadow walked through the half built columns and buildings as the light casted diagonal shadows and the cool night air made the dust and papers fly.

The Sons of Grimm had entered their warehouse and went towards something big covered in rain tarps. Julius grabbed the rain tarps and pulled them off revealing large crates full of weapons, dust rounds and snacks.

"Alright bros, since Lombar screwed up we need to get rid of these bad boys before the boys in blue come a knocking or worse Junior and his rent a goons." said Julius

"I have a cousin that's in the White Fang. He told me that they are after something big, they could pay us for some of these." suggested one of the members.

"Nice initiative horns. Let's sell them the cheap stuff, and then see where it goes." said Julius

"Hey, what about the black nut job that killed Lombar?" asked one of the members.

"Whoah dude, no need to be racist." said another member of the gang as they walked towards the crates.

"I mean the guy _in_ black. The guy the papers talk about. What if he shows up and shoots our asses?" asked the member

"That's just a rumor, a myth at best. If there was such a person then he'd be a huntsman that's probably looking for some misguided vengeance or something like that." said Julius

Suddenly all the lights were turned off causing the Faunus gang to look around in fear at what was the cause of this.

"What the hell?" asked Julius

"Did we forget to pay the light bill again?" asked one of the members

"I remember paying." said another of the members

Julius then noticed that something wasn't right, and pulled out his hand gun.

"Keep your eyes peeled. We're not alone here." said Julius with itchy fingers.

"Calm down Julius, we can see in the dark." said one of the gang members.

Just then The Shadow appeared amongst them causing the motorcycle gang members to jump back a little and point their guns at him. The Shadow stood still as the bikers circled him like a pack of wolves.

"What were you guys saying about the guy in black?" asked the gang member

"Well, at least he's stupid. What kind of a moron turns off the lights when the people he's trying to kill can see in the dark?" asked Julius as he pulled the hammer of his gun.

The Shadow wasted no time in talking and threw something into the ground. A large flash of blinding light filled the room turning everything to white. The Shadow covered himself with his cape rendering himself immune to the powerful blast of light.

The Sons of Grimm cried out in pain as their eyes burned as if they had been splashed with acid. Some of them dropped their guns and pressed their hands on their eyes to alleviate their pain.

The Shadow uncovered himself and then proceeded to attack the members of the biker gang. One of the bikers began randomly shooting forcing The Shadow to dodge and weave through the attacks. The Shadow grabbed hold of the biker's wrist snapping it and making him drop his gun before chopping him in the throat. The Shadow grabbed the biker by the neck of his shirt and threw him at another one of the bikers. The Shadow then kicked another biker in the side before hitting another one with an elbow to the stomach.

The Shadow grabbed hold of his pistols and began firing at the bikers. The ones that had regained their eyes sight managed to jump over some of the crates to avoid the bullets. The ones that didn't were cut down before the fire of the pistols.

Julius was one of the few lucky enough to get to cover knocking one of the crates off. He grabbed two of the assault rifles next to him and began firing back at The Shadow.

The Shadow began running as a trail of fire dust bullets followed after him. Every shot fired created sparks, and those sparks landed inside some of the opened crates. Fires began spreading through the hideout, The Shadow saw this and got ready to end this fight. The Shadow got behind a column as Julius finished his cartridges.

"You'll pay for your crimes scum!" said The Shadow from behind a column.

"You don't scare me, freak! Even if you don't die here, the Sons of Grimm will hunt you!" said Julius as he reloaded his rifles.

"Not if I get to them first." replied the Shadow.

The Shadow didn't wait for long to jump back into action. He rushed through the fires until he found himself in the spot he needed to be in. He took out his pistol and fired a single round. The bullet flew through the air and passed in front of Julius until it hit its target.

Julius looked to where the bullet had been fired at and saw some of the explosive rounds.

"Oh FU-!" began Julius

* * *

Outside the hideout a couple of students from Beacon were walking after a small incident.

"Honestly Yang, couldn't you have held back a little?" asked a black haired girl wearing a black dress and a long reed hood. This was Ruby Rose.

"Hey, no one messes with my hair and gets away with it. Besides, he'll be playing the flute in two to three years." said a tall long blond hair girl wearing a brown vest, black shorts, black shirt and yellow bracelets. This was Yang Xio Long, Ruby's older sister.

"You know I hate coming to this part of the kingdom, and you know it." said Ruby

"Come on sis, we're Beacon students. No low life would dare lay a finger on us." said Yang wrapping her arm around her sister. "Besides what's the worst-"

Yang began another sentence only to be cut short by a large fiery explosion. They both turned and saw a large building on fire and single person being shot out of it with a trail of smoke coming out from behind him.

The person landed on the roof of a car making a loud glass shattering noise. It was Julius. He moaned in pain as he tried to get back up. He blinked himself back to consciousness and saw both Ruby and Yang. Julius pulled out his gun and tried to shoot, Yang tried to get Ruby behind her, but the shot never came.

Something large came down on Julius's hand knocking the gun out of his hand. The Shadow had arrived.

The two girls looked in fear and awe as the Shadow lifted the biker by his neck as the flames from the building made him resemble a demon from some dark nightmare.

The Shadow turned to see the two girls as the light of the fire made his goggles shine.

Both girls waited for whatever was supposed to happen but they had no idea what it could be.

"Nice hood." said the Shadow before disappearing into the dark of the night.

"Um, thanks?" said Ruby slightly confused.


	4. Shadow Rising pt 3

The kingdom was in an uproar! The mysterious fire in the shady part of the kingdom had thrown people into a fit. Newspapers and news networks were trying to make sense of the fires but with no witnesses walking forward if was believed that some vandals had accidentally set the building on fire. The only thing that kept people from making the situation a bigger deal than it was, was that reports of White Fang activity were popping up left and right.

There had been several reports of White Fang terrorist acts appearing on the papers for a time now but nowhere near Vale which caused a little worry to the inhabitants of the kingdom. However, it was something that had to be dealt with before their presence became a much bigger issue.

And since the police were keeping public order and the huntsmen were keeping grimm out of the kingdom, it fell upon the dark avenger to fight this off.

At Lamont and Margot's usual cafe, they were discussing the big impact that the White Fang would have on the kingdom and the slowly rising tension that had been building up.

"First this unknown vigilante starts making bad guys drop left and right, and now a slowly rising terrorist organization is making its way here. What is going on Lamont?" asked Margo

"Not sure, the White Fang started off as a humanitarian force trying to get both Faunus and Humans together, but ever since the former leader Ghira Belladonna stepped down it has become more and more like a radical group seeking equality by force, or so they'd have people believe." said Lamont

"What do you mean?" asked Margo putting down her coffee mug.

"Have you heard of the train robbery and the raids in of some Schnee's buildings? There have been several casualties of people, mostly humans. Those are obvious acts of terrorist violence that are being covered with the excuse of showing strength." said Lamont with a dark voice.

"I understand that, but why are they moving here?" asked Margo

"Like any terrorist organization they'll seek to spread their influence unless someone stops them." responded Lamont

They stayed silent for a moment, thinking of the words that they had said. It was a tough pill to swallow, but it had to be swallowed either way. Many people were willing to treat everyone with respect and give everyone equal rights but the terrorist actions of the White Fang were making the people that called Faunus dangerous animals sound like they were in the right.

"Wow, this is a depressing topic I just walked into." called a voice behind Lamont and Margo.

Both Lamont and Margo turned around and saw the source of the voice. Behind them was a tall Caucasian man with short red hair, and blue eyes. He wore a green suit, white shirt, black tie and brown shoes.

Both Lamont and Margo's spirits lit up in cheer. They got up and went to greet their newly arrived friend.

"Well, if it isn't Pat Finnegan. Or should I say, detective Pat Finnegan?" asked Lamont as he shook Pat's hand.

"Lamont, a joker to the end as always, being able to switch from serious and dark to joyful and happy. I haven't been promoted yet, just Pat for you guys for now. Margo as stunning and knock outish as ever." said Pat before he then shook Margo's hand.

"Give it a rest Pat, you're not my type." said Margo with a cocky smile.

Detective Pat Finnegan was another one of Lamont's old friends. He had met him when they were in high school and shortly afterwards, Pat joined the police academy and rose in the police department as of late. He sometimes gives Lamont and Margo a tip or two but he didn't always liked it.

"So what are you doing now?" asked Pat

"Nothing much, just working like every other law abiding citizen." replied Lamont

"But if you are willing to tell us something we shouldn't know then we won't stop you." said Margo hoping that Pat would spill the beans on something regarding the vigilante.

"Sadly, I'm not supposed to say anything, but I happen to know that people are looking into the mysterious red scarfed man that has been making the people of Vale a little scared." said Pat as they all started walking out of the coffee shop.

Lamont and Margo rose an eyebrow at what their friend had just said. Most people would like to about the mysterious vigilante, but why would they be afraid of him?

"What do you mean? This person has only been targeting criminals and saving people. If anything the people should be happy." said Margo

"What can I tell ya? The chief and some of the officers are a little on edge since they claim that this vigilante attacked them while on a stake out." said Pat

Lamont couldn't help but think back at what Pat had just said.

* * *

The Shadow had followed some members of one of Lombar's remaining men to a large parking lot. They were looking to sell some smuggled drugs and use the money to disappear as to avoid the nasty end that their boss and co-workers received.

Some people came in to take some drugs and some of those people were cops, dirty cops looking for a cut from the sell.

Using the darkness of the night, The Shadow shot the lights from the lamp posts and then began taking out the drug dealers. Dodging the bullets in the middle of the night was child's play for The Shadow as he punched his enemies on the throat before shooting them with his pistols. One of the dirty cops tried to kill The Shadow but he never stood a chance. The Shadow disappeared before his eyes and then his arm was snapped before being punched in the face and chest.

The officers were able to leave after The Shadow made them swear that they'd never pull this kind of stunt again.

* * *

Back in the present, Lamont now reconsidered letting the scum live after he showed he wouldn't give him another chance at life. As the three friends walked down the street they could feel the air as it slowly got colder.

"Hey Lamont, reached the moon yet?" asked Pat catching Lamont off guard or at least he hoped.

"Almost, I still think that it's possible. I mean, if we look for another form of energy maybe the people of Remnant will finally be able to." said Lamont

"There he goes again. Lamont Cranston, newspaper editor and everyday dreamer of the impossible. What's next Scrolls that don't need to be recharged?" asked Margo in a joking manner.

"Why is it so hard to imagine those things? If we could divert some of the resources that being squandered by the Council, we could find a way to do those things. I mean, in eighty years no one has come up with a way to fix the biggest flaw of the CCTS or is it because people don't have the resources?" asked Lamont

"Swell... He's got us there." said Pat

Margo only shrugged knowing that talking or debating with Lamont at this point as he had hit a few good questions. And sometimes that was all he needed to win an argument.

"Now Pat, what are you going to do with this vigilante and the rumors that the White Fang are trying to set up shop in the kingdom?" asked Lamont shifting the conversation.

Pat was easily at a loss of words, he was more than aware that Lamont was a fox hound when it came to getting the truth out. Despite his friendly and joking attitude, he was a very serious guy that wanted to get his way no matter what.

"Fine. I got from a good word that the Council doesn't want to do anything since mobilizing the force would only cause more panic thanks to the recent reveals from the vigilante. Instead the Headmaster of Beacon will put some of his more 'experienced' students on look out." said Pat with a sigh

"By 'experienced' I take it that they've been out on the field like once or twice?" asked Margo with air quotes.

"Exactly. Only when they find out anything will we take action. Personally I'd round up some of the known White Fang members we have under surveillance and make them tell us what they know." said Pat balling his fist.

Both Lamont and Margo shared a look knowing full well that their friend would go through with his plan. Sometimes he was so stubborn that he'd match dicks with General Ironwood if he even looked at him funny. Not that either Lamont or Margo would blame him, his stubborn nature worked wonders in the Vale police force.

"Then I'm guessing that you're not going to wait for this to blow up horribly to act?" asked Margo

"Sadly, but I'll be there to tell the big guys they screwed up badly." said Pat

"And we'll be there to quote you." said Lamont causing Pat and Margo to laugh at the thought.

To the unknowing passer by the group would look like they were old friends that were only doing their own thing. Sadly, the laughing had to cut short as there was a problem appearing in the horizon.

Across the street a young group of Faunus were talking and sporting some small hints at the White Fang. The kids were looking like the rough and trouble making type especially after giving the group a dirty look.

Lamont looked at the kids after looking at his watch.

"Hey kids, shouldn't you be in school at this time?" asked Lamont

"We don't need no school old man." said one of the kids

"Yeah, we know better. We're street smart." said another kid

"That's good, but you should consider expanding your horizons. Learn from the past and present to make a good future. Don't let the none sense hatred of fools guide you." said Lamont

The kids looked down at Lamont's words but said nothing. They grabbed their stuff and left not giving much of a word at Lamont.

After the kids had left, both Margo and Pat went to where Lamont was and just looked in silence as the kids walked down the street.

"Do you think people will actually listen to the White Fang and join them?" asked Lamont

"Hard to say, I can only hope that they aren't that gullible." said Margo

* * *

Night had fallen and The Shadow was on the hunt, not for his usual scum but against a threat that he could stop before it came and made its mark on the kingdom. From a dark alley, The Shadow looks to "Tukson's Book Trade" a respectable business for all intents and purposes but also as a front for White Fang recruitment. That ended tonight.

The owner was a man named Tukson, a Faunus puma who had been part of the White Fang ever since it was a more pacific organization. He was tall and had short black hair.

The Shadow rushed towards the store just as the owner closed for the night.

Tukson continued on walking as the lights of the street flickered, giving him the uneasy feeling that someone was behind him or at least following him. Tukson continued walking feeling a piercing glare digging into the back of his head. Every step became faster and faster, Tukson looked at the mirrors of the nearby shops hoping to get a good look at the man behind him. He managed to make out an outline of a black figure with a long red scarf.

Tukson quickly turned around in fear, only to find that the street was empty and there was no noise around him.

The man that had been tailing Tukson had disappeared. Before Tukson could let out his breath of relief, a pair of black clad arms came out from the dark alley behind him and pulled him into the dark alley.

Tukson was thrown into the wall of the alley and then pushed into the large trash container. Tukson's eyes were able to adjust to the lack of light and was then frightened by the sight of the dangerous vigilante, The Shadow.

"Tukson, where is the White Fang meeting?" asked The Shadow as he pressed Tukson into the trash unit.

Tukson pulled out his claws and took a swipe at The Shadow. The Shadow jumped back as Tukson began swiping at him like a wild animal. The Shadow weaved and dodged the attacks left and right until he caught a swipe and punched Tukson in the face. The Shadow continued punching Tukson in the face and in the stomach. The Shadow grabbed Tukson by his shirt, pulling him into one last knee to the stomach.

Tukson fell down in pain, with blood dripping from his mouth.

"Stop this nonsense, Tukson. You are no match for me. Tell me where is the White Fang gathering." said The Shadow

"Why should I do that?" asked Tukson as he gave the Shadow a dirty look.

"You should care because a lot of innocent people are going to become terrorists by those mislead ideals. There is always another way. Even you must see it now." said the Shadow making it very obvious that he could do much worse.

Tukson looked away in shame.

"They're meeting at 25th and Diamond. A big warehouse." said Tukson before the Shadow disappeared.

* * *

The Shadow arrived at the warehouse that Tukson had told him about and saw that several Faunus young and old were walking into the building and as they went inside the man at the entrance gave them Grimm masks.

The Shadow jumped at the top of the warehouse roof and slowly walked crouched down towards one of the roof windows. The Shadow quickly opened the window and locked his grappling hook to lower himself. The Shadow easily lowered himself to one of the catwalks. The Shadow looked down to see several full fledged members of the White Fang, the new recruits and standing in a large podium stood what the Shadow thought to be a lieutenant.

"Welcome, I'd like to welcome every last one of you for coming here. As you all know, throughout the world, Faunus are being discriminated against. And no one is doing anything to stop it. Having service being refused, inhumane labor laws, being paid less than nothing. The people in power are giving all of that to humans from other lands while we are left in the dirt." began the lieutenant earning 'boos' from the audience. "But I am here to tell you, that there are those willing to put Faunus in their rightful place. Join the White Fang and we will put the world on the right track."

The audience was eating every word that the lieutenant was saying, despite the fact that Vale was one of the most progressive and tolerant kingdoms. Some of the things he was saying made a little sense, but to be honest all the man was doing was point fingers at problems that could be fixed without the need to go on a race war.

The Shadow couldn't help but laugh at the fact that these people were so blind to the truth that they were listening to this man. The Shadow's laugh began echoing through the entire warehouse sending chills down the terrorists' spines.

 **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...!**

"It is always amusing to hear such hypocrisies from terrorist scum." said The Shadow as he laughed making his presence known. "You forgot to mention just what they will be agreeing to. The destruction of property, intimidation, extortion, murder, amongst many other things. Just like in the settlement of Keiko near the dust routes of Mistral. Or how about the small village of Arma in the northern kingdom of Atlas."

The new recruits began whispering amongst each other and even now The Shadow could recognize the kids that he'd met earlier that day.

"He's lying, that wasn't the White Fang. Brothers kill that scum." ordered the lieutenant

The full fledged members aimed their guns at The Shadow who only kept on laughing.

"Then I suppose that it wasn't the White Fang's symbol that was found branded on those places, including the attacked trains, or on the survivors both human and Faunus! It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you seek to make the world fear you, but how long until that fear turns to hate? Because the truth is that if you follow down this path you'll end up in a shallow grave. They've made their choice, but you all still have a chance to walk away." said the Shadow unfazed by the guns being aimed at him.

No one moved for a moment. But then one by one the civilians started dropping their masks to the ground, much to the shock of the White Fang. After they did that, they all began to leave the warehouse.

Angered by this the lieutenant pulled out his own pistol and tried to threatened them back to his side. But before he could pull the trigger, a bullet shot through his hand making him drop his gun. Everyone turned to see one of the Shadow's pistol's smoking.

Just as the White Fang was about to shoot the vigilante, he disappeared laughing like a demon from the darkness of the night. The White Fang members were frozen in place allowing the civilians to escape without much trouble. The lieutenant looked around only to find the Shadow behind him.

In a split second, the Shadow punched the lieutenant in the face knocking him out. The Shadow then released the grunts causing them to turn around and face the Shadow. The Shadow pulled out his pistols and began firing with pin point accuracy taking out the grunts. The last sound they ever heard was that of the Shadow's nightmarish laugh.

 **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...!**


	5. Archer Contact

**Hey guys, awsomerebel55 here. I'm not a big fan of author notes but I thought that I should clear a few things about this story, hope you can understand:**

 **1) First and foremost, there will be no Salem, no Maidens and no Relics whatsoever. There will be mystical places that tie in to the Shadow and its lore but nothing outside of it.**

 **2) No special Silver Eye powers because I find them completely ridiculous on how they work.**

 **3) The story won't be the same as the RWBY canon and I will be taking in some freedoms regarding the story and the world.**

 **With that out of the way, I hope that you enjoy this story and if you need or feel like I should do something differently please leave it in the comments with your thoughts. Don't forget to fav and follow the story if you like it.**

* * *

 **Archer Contact**

It was around midnight and everything was quiet inside a large office building. An elderly security guard was walking through minding his own business as he looked around with his flashlight and whistled a sweet tune. The calmness of the night was a welcomed change, since the day time activity in the office building often gave people a severe headache.

Just then the guard heard something falling down and landing on the ground.

"Here Bill, I just heard something in the tenth floor. I'm gonna take a look." said Bill the guard over the radio.

"Copy that." replied a voice from the radio.

The guard turned on his flashlight and grabbed hold of his weapon as he slowly walked towards the source of the noise. Every step that Bill took carried very little weight as to not alert whoever was on the same floor. Bill found himself face to face with the open door to the manager's office. Bill pulled out his gun and got ready to enter.

All the lights were turned off but the guard was sure there was someone inside, just waiting. Bill jumped in illuminating the office with his flashlight, but he found it empty. Not a soul outside his own. Bill began looking hoping to see what caused the noise he noticed something next to his right foot. Just as the elderly guard looked down to see what it was his radio sprung to life giving him a jump scare.

"Bill, you still with us?" called overt he radio.

Bill let out a deep breath before going for his radio.

"Yes, but you gave me one heck of a scare. I think I found the source of the noise." said Bill as he looked down to see a stack of papers down on the ground. "A stack of papers fell down. The boss might've forgotten to lock his door."

Unbeknownst to Bill above him was a lone figure with a crimson bow and arrows and a covered face.

"The boss forgot to close his door? You sure?" asked the voice over the radio.

"I'm just calling it as I see it. Well, I'll get back to my rounds." said Bill before he headed out of the office.

Once Bill left the room and closed it behind him, the figure dropped down allowing the light from the window to show the figure of the intruder. The figure wore a dark shirt with a red arrow pointed down, black pants, stealthy shoes with magnetic heels, both his arms were covered with gloves that went to the elbows with some tech on them. On his back he had a crimson bow, a quiver filled with arrows and his face was covered with a black mask and a pair of night vision goggles.

"Alright, show time." said the mysterious archer as he pulled out a hacking key from one of his gloves.

The archer connected the key into the main computer's usb port. A holographic projection of a keyboard appeared from his glove as the screen lit up. The archer began typing away and hacking through the different firewalls that the computer had.

"Alright Mr. Kahn, what are you hiding in your pocket?" asked the Archer as he hacked.

Soon enough the archer found some very sensitive triple encrypted files.

"Bingo." said the Archer before accidentally setting off an alarm. "Ah, crap. Why?"

The archer was unable to keep decrypting the files he just downloaded them and the busted out of the door. Archer pulled out his bow and pulled back an arrow as several of the guards rushed towards him.

The archer fired one of the arrows at the guards pinning one of them by the shoulder to the wall. He fired another arrow at the alarm lights causing sparks to come down blinding some of the guards.

The archer ran down the hall keeping one more arrow loaded and ready to fire. The remaining guards chased after the intruder but the archer was faster and reached the window at the end of the hallway with no problems.

"See you guys later." said the archer before shooting another arrow into the glass.

The glass shattered as the archer jumped out of the shattered window before firing a grappling arrow. The archer was sent flying through the sky of Vale leaving the tall office building that sported the initials 'S' and 'K'.

* * *

A few blocks away a runaway car with some stolen merchandise was making a run away from the police. The sound of sirens echoed through the street as one of the criminals pulled out his head and held out his shotgun.

The criminal pumped the weapon before opening fire on the patrol cars. The patrols were forced to screech to a halt or to pull back as to not get shot.

The criminal pulled himself back inside the car as he and his two fellow criminals cheered for their success.

"Alright man, no more of this crap." said one of the criminals

"You kidding me, that was way too close. But I think we lost them." said the criminal with the shotgun.

"Yeah, we lost them. I think we're good." said the get away driver.

Suddenly a heavy black figure landed on top of the car's hood. The criminals shrieked in fear as The Shadow appeared before them. The Shadow had become a very big name in the last couple of weeks as he had waged a one man war against the criminal underworld.

"No. You are anything but good, scum." said The Shadow

The criminal with the shotgun aimed it at The Shadow, but the Shadow disappeared just as he pulled the trigger. The glass was shattered sending small pieces of glass into the group of criminals blinding them in pain.

The Shadow was on the top of the car's roof as he then punched through the side window knocking out the driver. The Shadow grabbed hold of the steering wheel, turning to avoid hitting any of the innocent sidewalks and the people walking on them. The Shadow spotted an abandoned building site and then he sharply turned into it crashing the car into the fence.

The criminal with the shotgun aimed the weapon back to the roof trying to shoot the Shadow and missed by a hair's length. The Shadow then saw a large column and jumped off of the car. As soon as The Shadow did that, that the car crashed on the column.

The criminals managed to open the doors before falling out of the car in pain. The Shadow slowly walked up to the three criminals and quickly stomped on the criminal's hand crushing his fingers and making him drop his shotgun.

"Spread the word, The Shadow knows!" said The Shadow before pulling one of his pistols and firing at the criminals.

Right after the Shadow fired at the criminals, the sirens of the patrol cars echoed in the distance getting closer to the construction site. The Shadow remained on his spot for almost a minute allowing the cops to catch a glimpse of him before he clouded their minds disappearing before their eyes.

All that the cops were able to hear was the haunting laugh of the Shadow sending his message that the Shadow was not going anywhere and that criminals should be warned.

"I swear this city is turning into a blood bath." said one of the cops.

* * *

The next day, the city and the citizens were unsure of what was happening. First the rumors of the dark clad vigilante taking out any known criminals that the police had yet to deal with and now it would seem that those rumors were real.

News were looking for everything they could find about the mysterious vigilante. And Pulp News was no different. Despite Lamont and Bruce's attempts at keeping them out.

"Alright people, everyone and their grandmother want to know who the Shadow is and why he's doing this. What do we know about him?" asked Lamont holding back a smile.

His team of reporters began pulling out notes about what they were able to find out about the Shadow, but oddly enough Margo kept her distance as she was entertaining her own thoughts on the subject.

"We know that he's the one responsible for stopping Lombar's smuggling operations. And freed the people that had been missing." said one of the reporters.

"He's also been some rumors that he's been taking down any crime in the city, from muggings to the bank robbery from last night. This and the testimony of the officers on sight has branded him a vigilante." said a Faunus woman reporter with mouse ears.

"Do we know anything else?" asked Lamont

"Some rumors say that he or she was the one responsible for wiping out the White Fang cell that was amassing here in Vale as some Faunus told the police that a man fitting the Shadow's description had halted the initiation and proceeded to take down the White Fang grunts." said Margo from where she stood.

"Yes, however, the only thing that was left in the warehouse were the corpses of the White Fang members." said Lamont

"I also happen to have figure out that he has some extreme training, he also must have a semblance that allows him to blend in the shadows. That is according to the very select few that have been able to see him. On a side note there was a break-in at Kahn Industries last night, so if anyone doesn't want to chase after the vigilante you can search for that." said Margo

"Who wants the break in?" asked Lamont and none of the reporters raised their hands. "Who wants to search more about the Shadow?"

Upon hearing the latter question all the reporters that answered to Lamont shot out their hands. Lamont let out a sigh.

"Guys, I love the enthusiasm. If you're not changing your mind then look into the places and the events that the Shadow supposedly had a hand in, at least you'll have something to show for. Alright, you got your assignments." said Lamont dismissing the reporters.

Just as the reporters left, Lamont sat on his desk and began going over the different articles that were meant for the news. After finishing up, Lamont noticed that Margo was looking at him.

"Need anything, Margo?" asked Lamont

"I just thought that you'd be interested in the break in of the other night. After all why would anyone steal from a company owned by Shiwan Kahn, he's supposed to be a nice guy?" asked Margo

Lamont reacted to that name. He had gotten it from Lombar the other night. The man had his hands on every dark business of the Vale underworld. Oddly enough he was reluctant to use a codename or an alias for those businesses.

"Then, I guess I'll tag along with you to just because you peaked my curiosity." said Lamont getting up.

"I figured." said Margo

* * *

Both Lamont and Margo went to Kahn industries and met up with the guards on duty at the time of the heist.

"So there I was doing my rounds when this guy came out of nowhere. Freaking unbelievable." said Bill as Margo and Lamont wrote it down.

"Did you catch anything unusual about this intruder?" asked Margo

"Aside from the fact that he went out like an old archer and didn't turn me or the guys into Swiss cheese with his arrows? Not much other than he didn't take anything that we know of." said Bill

"Any idea as to why he'd break in?" asked Lamont

"Not sure, corporate espionage maybe. Mr. Kahn is a very influential man and he has several banks, and enterprises that work all over the world. I personally think Schnee Dust is a little jealous of all the income Mr. Kahn gets." said Bill

"Alright, Margo, I'll go ask around to see if the other guards saw something else. Can you finish this interview?" asked Lamont

"Sure thing, boss." said Margo before Lamont went to the scene of the crime.

Lamont walked through the floor looking for anything that stood out of place. But he wasn't looking for things in for the paper he was looking much closer. Which came in handy when one could become invisible to most people.

If Shiwan Kahn was part of the dark underbelly of Vale then this theft must've been for something important.

Lamont went into the manager's office and began looking into the files in the computer. Three appeared to be missing from the folder marked 'Atlas' but it would appear that the download was interrupted. Lamont also noticed something else, a small scratch mark on one of the ceiling of the office. The archer was caught half way through the heist, he'd be back.

"Found what you were looking for boss?" asked Margo from the door of the office.

Lamont was almost shocked that Margo was standing there.

"Hi, Margo." replied Lamont sheepishly.

"Next time you want to snoop around you better give me a better heads up. We better get going before the guards get back up. And you better tell me what you found." said Margo and just like that they left the building with no trouble.

* * *

After telling Margo about the things he discovered and soon night fell. Now it was the Shadow's turn.

The Shadow looked at the Kahn building from the top of one of the nearby buildings waiting for the mysterious archer to appear. The Shadow pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked out for the man in question.

It was passed midnight when the Shadow spotted the archer entering through one of the side vents of the buildings.

"Show time." said The Shadow before firing his grappling hook towards the building.

The Shadow soared through the air towards the building of Kahn industries not knowing that a car was parked on the street underneath him. Inside the car was Margo and as soon as she spotted the Shadow she fired up the engine.

"Time to see what you've got Mr. Shadow." said Margo as she drove after The Shadow.

* * *

The Shadow went straight to the building and wasted no time entering through the very same vent that the archer went in through. The Shadow rushed through the vents until he reached an exit but as soon as he noticed something odd about the building. It was completely empty. If this building had just been almost robbed the other night then they would've increased security, but not even old Bill was here.

The Shadow managed to arrive at the spot that the archer was going to be. The Shadow used the weakest of efforts in opening the door of the manager. The Archer had started working on hacking the files that he needed.

"Come on you stupid computer, work with me." said Archer as he hacked the computer.

The Shadow stood his ground and waited for the archer to finish his work.

"Yes, finally got something." said Archer as he finally decrypted the files. "Commencing download."

The Shadow looked down on the files that appeared on the computer. All of the files were inside information of other large companies, how to manipulate stocks and distribution of products to increase the prices of goods. All of these were dark and under handed but now it was time for the Archer to answer some questions.

"I'll be rich after this." said Archer

"I don't think so." said The Shadow finally revealing himself to Archer.

The Archer turned around shocked by the sudden appearance of the Shadow. The Archer jumped back and tried to attack the Shadow with a punch but the Shadow caught it with ease before flipping the man over the desk. The Archer tried to get back up and pull his bow but The Shadow was already aiming his gun at the intruder.

"Who the heck are you?" asked the Archer holding his hands up.

"I'm the Shadow and you're going to answer my questions. Who sent you and why?" asked The Shadow

"Sorry pal, but in the words of the immortal bard; That's for me to know and for you to spending nights boo hooing 'cause you'll never find out." said Archer before they both heard a click. "Did you hear that?"

The Shadow looked at the door and noticed a few silhouettes in front of them. The Shadow's eyes widen as he then grabbed hold of Archer and threw him over the desk once more before a barrage of bullets came through the front door.

The Shadow flipped the desk to form some sort of cover as the bullets tore through the room.

"What in the name of god is going on?!" asked Archer completely freaked out of his mind.

After a minute the fire stopped and three men entered the room with assault rifles wearing all black. They surrounded the desk and were ready to strike down anyone that was behind it. But the Shadow wasn't behind the desk.

The Shadow dropped down from the ceiling and slammed into one of the three men activating the electric tasers of his pistols. The shock of electricity send the attacker to the ground. The remaining two attackers turned around just in time for the Shadow to fire at them dropping them to the ground with quick finesse.

"You got 'em?" asked Archer looking over the desk.

"I got 'em. Now get up." said The Shadow pulling Archer to his feet and dragging him out of the office only to find five more people with assault rifles waiting for them.

"I'll wait inside." said Archer before the Shadow back fisted him into the room.

The black dressed attack team aimed their weapons at him before opening fire on him. The Shadow's eyes glowed red as the attack team fired at him. Bullets went past him as he dodged and ducked under the fire with only receiving some scratches.

The Shadow grabbed hold of the first man by the back of his shirt before wrapping his arm around his neck and turning him around. The Shadow forced the man to fire upon his own team. Once all but one were left standing, the Shadow chopped him behind the neck and flipping him over his shoulder.

The Shadow went back for Archer and slung him over his shoulder. The Shadow walked out of the office once more and then heard that the elevator ding noise went ding. The Shadow looked up and saw that the last man was holding Margo of all people hostage.

"Drop the intruder and your weapons, or little Ms. Nosy here gets whacked." said the man

"No. You let her go, before you regret it." said the Shadow earning a confused look by the man.

"What?" asked the man before Margo elbowed him in the armpit.

The man groaned in pain before Margo pulled out her taser from her sleeve. She turned it on and struck the man in the face with it. The man screamed in pain before Margo kicked him in the stomach knocking him out.

"Nice." said the Shadow disappearing into the Shadows.

Margo looked around and saw that the Shadow and Archer were gone.

"I guess I have the big scoop then." said Margo before calling the cops.

* * *

Miles away in the outskirts of Vale, a well dressed man wearing a white suit, a black scarf, and black shoes was looking at the city with a smile. He had short black hair and dark eyes that showed that he believed that he owned the world. Behind him several men wearing black suits and black cars.

"Such a beautiful sight. I never tier of it." said the man before looking down on a beaten man. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"Please Mr. Kahn...I'm sorry. I never meant-" began the man

"Excuse me? I asked you about the view. I my family used to tell me these tales of places that would put this one to shame. But do you know why they were so grandiose? Because it was theirs." said Shiwan Kahn "And that's what your careless actions put in danger. Now I believe in second chances, but if you screw up one more time, those little guys are gonna get a snack."

The terrified man looked at a pack of wild wolves snarling and eating some raw meat.

"This is going to be my empire, and no one is going to get in my way." said Shiwan Kahn.


	6. First Steps

The other night had been intense for some people but things were about to get much worse for others.

Lamont Cranston was in his secret headquarters and was uploading the files that Archer had stolen from Shiwan Kahn.

After leaving the building The Shadow had gotten some answers out of Archer and figured out that he had only been hired by a competitor to steal files that Shiwan had stolen first, so all the Shadow did was leave him for the cops. The man hadn't done anything that warranted the Shadow's brand of justice, besides now there was a larger fish to fry.

At that moment, a ding noise got Lamont's attention out of his own thoughts and back to his own computer. The upload had finished.

"Seems like you had a very productive night," called out Bruce from behind. "Margo called and told me what happened."

"Yeah, I was a little worried about her being there, but she handled herself. What I did find is that Shiwan Kahn is looking for some nasty under the table acquisitions. Just look at this information." said Lamont looking back to the computer.

The files all contained different forms of insider information on the companies. With this information one would be able to purchase or sell stocks and would become rich or just acquire the companies with relative ease. But there was something that didn't make sense.

"Why would Kahn bother to steal this information? It isn't like you couldn't find out through other means or purchase the companies with his vast wealth. That would only meant that they must serve another function. But what could it be?" asked Bruce looking at the screens.

Lamont began looking through the different companies to see if there was a link, but out of the companies there wasn't a clear link. But then something struck him. Each of the files had an address for each of the companies. Lamont started putting in all the different addresses into the computer and all of the places formed a large circle that went all around the kingdom of Vale.

"Each of the companies is located in a different position of the kingdom and they all are in heavy armored spots. Hard to get in and easy to defend. But the why is still unknown to me." said Lamont as he looked at the screen until his scroll vibrated.

Lamont pulled out his phone and noticed that he had several missed calls from Margo and she was calling once more.

"You should answer that call." said Bruce

Lamont answered the call and placed his scroll in his ear.

"Hey Margo, sorry but I was a little caught up. What's up?" asked Lamont

"Oh, not much. I just found out some things that I thought you might be interested in. Get to the office now." said Margo over the phone.

"I'll be there in about a minute." said Lamont before hanging up.

"Sounds to me like she's unto something big." said Bruce

"Only one way to find out." said Lamont before leaving.

* * *

Lamont made his way to Pulp News with haste. If Margo wanted to talk about the other night then she could've caught sight of something. If that was the case, could she be after the same thing that he was or could she have recognize him? No that wasn't possible, The Shadow's mask and scarf covered enough of his face to keep him from being recognized and the goggles kept the eyes hidden as well. Then what was the reason for Margo's urgency?

Lamont walked through the office until he arrived at his desk where Margo had made herself at home, even using his computer. Thankfully he kept all the important stuff on his home computer.

"You know, most people wouldn't like that someone is using their computer with sensitive information when they aren't around. How did you get my password?" asked Lamont

"I'm better with computers than you are. Besides everything here is professional, nothing fun to hold over your head. Except maybe some YouTube videos, and still those are too boring." responded Margo with a sneaky smile.

Lamont had to hand it to his old friend, she had a way to get on his good side.

"What did you wanted to talk about?" asked Lamont

Margo stopped typing and stood up to meet Lamont's eyes.

"Follow me." said Margo leading Lamont to a private part of the office.

Once they were alone, Margo began explaining herself with detail. Margo explained that she was at Kahn industries to see if the Archer would be coming back to finish the job, but was then met with a small hit squad trying to kill the Archer. Not only that but she also saw the vigilante known as the Shadow take down the hit squad, she also helped but only at the very end.

"...and then the Shadow disappeared with Archer, who was then found by the police but escaped from custody in the early hours of the morning." finished Margo

"Sounds like you had an eventful night. Some of us had to do some work." said Lamont

"Well I did some digging while the six assassins were on the floor and it turns out that they were hired by someone from the company through a phony account. I think that is why there were no guards or people in the building. And when I drove past the building it looked like nothing had happened." said Margo

"That seems like a lot to protect a few files. Wait you said six assassins?" asked Lamont

"Yeah, I think so. The Shadow took out some of them but I didn't really count them before leaving. There's more to the story and I'm gonna find out." said Margo

Lamont's mind went back to that night and he could've sworn that there had been seven men on that floor, which meant that one of them had escaped. Margo was in danger but before he could say anything she had left the office and gone to work.

"Damn it, Margo. Why?" said Lamont

* * *

In one of the abandoned buildings of the shady part of Vale, the Sons of Grimm were waiting for someone that had called upon their services.

Amongst the Faunus bikers was one of the administrators, Alec Baldwin, a tall brawny man with a sharp face with fangs and bear claws. He wore a sleeveless black leather jacket, a pair of black pants with a chain wrapped around his waist, and black biker boots. He looked like he'd gotten in a few fights in his life and was ready to take on anyone foolish enough to face him.

"Hey boss, what do you think he'll ask of us tonight?" asked one of the bikers.

"I'm not sure, but he said it was urgent. He don't use that word loosely. He'll be here." said Alec grunting.

At that moment three black cars drove up to where the bikers were and their headlights illuminated the entrance of the building. From the middle car the door opened and out came Shiwan Kahn, still sporting the same fancy suit that he wore the other night.

The Sons of Grimm all got up as Shiwan Kahn approached them with some of his men.

"Gentlemen, so good for you to come here. I have a job for you, one by which you'll be paid handsomely." said Shiwan Kahn

"Hold up a second pal, you can't just come here and order us around! We ain't some dogs you can just call when you need us and expect us to wait. We're the Sons of Grimm, and you better have the chops to act high and mighty with u-" began one of the bikers before Shiwan Kahn took off his glasses and placed them inside his coat's inside pocket.

Shiwan punched the biker on the throat silencing him and then punched him in the face causing some blood to come out of the biker's mouth. Shiwan Kahn then kicked the biker on the side before giving him a roundhouse kick cross the jaw sending the biker to the floor. The biker struggled to get up but he was stopped by Kahn's fancy shoe pressing against his throat.

Shiwan grabbed his glasses and put them on once more before letting out a sigh.

"I understand where you're coming from-I'm sorry I didn't catch your name." said Shiwan allowing the biker to speak.

"Sam." said the biker between breaths.

"I understand where you're coming from Sam, fancy well dressed man calls you and your buddies and then makes you wait for a long time. But you must understand that as a law abiding member of society I have certain...responsibilities to live up to. Especially with my agenda. As for this demonstration, well... I ask you; do you think I've got the chops now?" asked Shiwan Kahn

The biker Sam struggled to get the words out with Shiwan's foot being pushed on his throat.

"I thought so. Let me give you a small lesson in ancient history. Many generations ago, before the world had been mapped, people ruled as kings. Amongst those kings there was a great leader. He ruled the biggest territory of the known world with his several legions of warring horseback warriors. Do you know how he did this?" asked Shiwan casting a dark shadow upon the bikers who simply turned their heads. "He did it because he saw a greater destiny before him. He joined all the warring factions of the land and then proceeded to expand their territory which created an empire."

Shiwan pulled his foot off of the biker who began to cough and take in deep breaths.

"The job I have for you is a simple one, there's this woman who saw something that she shouldn't have. Don't worry about the one that allowed it to happen, he's been dealt with. Find her. Kill her. Thank you for your time gentlemen, I bid you a good evening." said Shiwan before he and his guards left in their cars.

Alec then looked at biker Sam who was still coughing.

"That's why you don't pick a fight with him." said Alec

* * *

Lamont had spent the entire day trying to get Margo from doing anything reckless, but to no avail. Margo was as stubborn as they came. Lamont had return to the secret base under the Cranston mansion and had debriefed his grandfather on the situation.

Lamont called Margo's scroll for the fifth time in a roll after finishing the last of his assignments.

"Come on." said Lamont with worry.

Margo hadn't been answering her phone, which meant that she was probably looking for a lead.

"Fifth call in the same hour, it must be serious." said Bruce

"You gotta give it to Margo, she always goes for the big stories. And always keeps me on my toes." said Lamont

"She'd make a great wife in that case. Reminds me of Selina back when we were young." said Bruce with a faint smile.

Lamont couldn't help but get a blush from that commentary.

"Before you start looking for a date, we have to find her." said Lamont trying to locate Margo's scroll.

The computer began beeping as the commands began take effect. Given that the communications tower had literally no security, for whatever reason, Lamont had managed to get a good idea of where Margo's last call came from.

"According to the phone records, and the Communications tower, Margo's last phone call came from the corner of Clinton and New City. That was like half an hour ago. She must've gone in search for the guards to get some answers, Bill lives in that area." said Lamont before typing into the street cameras of the intersection.

The screens lit up to show the intersection and all the movements of the street. The camera record focused into Margo's face.

"There she is, now to catch up with her before she goes." said Lamont as he looked at the video feed.

The camera feedback showed how Margo walked on the street heading towards Bill's home.

* * *

Lamont had gotten suit up and ready to keep a good eye on Margo as she started getting out of Bill's apartment and saying her goodbyes.. He wasn't used to being so early in the day, but The Shadow couldn't take any chances. So, he'd have to get used to the heat and the lights of the sunset.

The Shadow was perched up on one of the buildings across the street as the wind made his red scarf flattered in the wind. Just then The Shadow heard the noise of a group of bikes coming from down the street. The Shadow looked towards the origin of the noise and saw that it was a group of the Sons of Grimm. Some of them were carrying riffles while the largest man leading them held a long steel chain with a large hook at the end.

"Oh what now?" asked The Shadow before he noticed that the bikers were going towards Margo.

The bikers with riffles began firing at Margo but before the bullets struck her, The Shadow jumped into action. The Shadow tackled Margo to the floor to avoid the incoming fire. Sadly the bullets did struck someone. That someone was none other than the old guard, Bill.

Both Margo and The Shadow saw the old man fall to the floor in shock. Margo looked back to see her savior, and she was faced with a pair of bright red eyes that showed only one emotion...Rage.

"Get in now!" ordered The Shadow

Not wanting to discuss at a time like this Margo obeyed. The Shadow, and Margo went into the apartment before The Shadow closed the door as the sound of tiers screeching to a halt was heard. The bikers had clearly looking to finish the job.

The Shadow looked down to see Margo helping the old man by putting pressure on the wound.

"You need to get him to a hospital, and get out of here through the back door." said The Shadow pointing to it.

"Wait, who the hell are you?!" asked Margo looking at The Shadow.

"I'm The Shadow." said The Shadow before pulling his pistols out as the bikers began beating at the door entrance.

Margo could see that the vigilante was more than serious, and that those that tried to kill her were going to pay. Margo quickly grabbed hold of the old security guard and made the way towards the door.

"I hope to get your statement later!" said Margo

"You'll only get this much! I know what evil lurks in the hearts of man!" said The Shadow his eyes shining red.

Margo took that as the best answer she was going to get and took care of who the old guard.

Once Margo was out of danger, The Shadow turned to the door once more.

"Show time." said The Shadow

* * *

Outside the apartment the Sons of Grim were beating on the door without being able to make it budge.

"Out of the way!" ordered Alec

The biker grunts stepped to the side as Alec began spinning his chain and then threw it at the door imbedding the large hook on the door. With a mighty pull, the door was sent flying backwards in splinters.

"We could've just shot it." said one of the bikers

"I need the exercise." said Alec as he and the bikers entered the apartments.

The bikers began looking around the apartment because everything seemed deserted. All the windows were closed and there was no sign of the three people that had gotten inside before the bikers had gotten in.

"Spread out, find them." said Alec as the bikers began searching for their targets.

The air became heavy as it seemed that the apartment was all but empty. There was no trace of the people that were supposed to be inside. Every step seemed to put the bikers more on edge when suddenly a macabre laugh echoed through the apartment.

 _ **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**_

"Who the hell is that?" asked one of the bikers aiming his gun in fear.

"I am here to make you pay for your actions!" said the Shadow from the shadows.

One by one The Shadow grabbed hold of the bikers before punching and smashing the electrocuted pistol butts. The bikers began firing all over the place trying to get the one that was attacking them, but none of the bullets made contact with the target.

The Shadow fired two quick shots taking care of the bikers that were firing at him putting them down. Shortly afterwards, The Shadow was face to face with the leader of the group.

"Alright Mr. Broody, time to die." said Alec before throwing his hook at The Shadow.

The Shadow rolled out of the way avoiding the sharp hook before aiming his guns at the leader and opening fire. Alec pulled back his chain and began spinning the chain around blocking the bullets with only missing one or two. The Shadow jumped at the biker causing Alec to throw his hook at The Shadow once more hooking it to one of the chairs and pulled back hitting The Shadow from the back. Alec jumped up in the air attempting to crush The Shadow.

The Shadow quickly regained his senses before rolling out of the way of the falling giant. The Shadow managed to get back up and tackled Alec to the wall. The biker leader began swinging his punches, but The Shadow ducked under the punches before punching Alec in the stomach over and over. The Shadow jumped back as Alec began attacking once more, but the Shadow blocked one of the punches and elbowed the biker in his nose.

The Shadow then jumped and brought down a hammer punch on the biker bringing him to the floor.

"Who sent you? Why are you here?" asked The Shadow slamming Alec into the ground.

"I ain't no rat." said Alec spitting out blood.

"There's no way you're against the old man, so I know that you were after the woman. So let me guess, it was Kahn, wasn't it? Why is keeping the information of those files secret so important?" asked The Shadow knowing the answer.

"I already told you, I ain't no rat." repeated Alec

The Shadow figured that this was as good a time as any to take things to another level. The Shadow pulled Alec up and began slamming him over and over through the apartment. The Shadow sent Alec flying towards the table shattering it to pieces and then bringing Alec face to face with the television.

Alec was bleeding and The Shadow's patience was running thin.

"Last chance." said The Shadow before slinging Alec over his shoulder.

"He has a plan of some sort. I don't know what it is, but he is obsessed with making his own kingdom." said Alec in pain. "That's all I know I swear."

"I figured. Thank you." said The Shadow before ending the fight.

* * *

Lamont managed to find Margo once more in Vale's general hospital. And she began telling him everything.

"The doctors say that he's stable, that the bullet missed his vitals." said Margo

"That was lucky, but what about you?" asked Margo

"Only a couple of scratches. My mind is what's still rattled. He..is real. I got his name...The Shadow." said Margo

"You just got shot at by a gang of bikers and that's what you're focused on?" asked Lamont

"That means that there is more to this than meets the eye. Maybe The Shadow is investigating this. Or he could be a hitman. At first it seemed that he was just being spotted here and there, but now I'm sure that he is waging a war against the crime underbelly of the kingdom." said Margo bringing a smile to Lamont's face.

"Then I guess you found something." said Lamont

"Yes, and I'm going to find out who he is." said Margo smiling.

This stoped Lamont in his tracks. This just got more complicated.


	7. Legacy

Deep in the Lamont mansion, Bruce was sitting in his study as he looked at an old family album. The fireplace was lit and the tranquility of the night was all the sweeter with his glass of Scotch. Bruce was looking at some of the pictures in the album that made him smile fondly.

"Feels like it was just yesterday." said Bruce as his hand grazed the picture in question.

Before Bruce was a picture of both himself and his wife, Selina. Both of them looked to be around their twenties and were both dressed up for some sort of event, the star filled night was behind them and they both had happy smiles on their faces. The picture right next to that one showed Bruce and Selina in front of a church celebrating their wedding, the first of many happy days. The next picture was one in which they were a little older with their two sons getting ready to got to school. The photo next to that one showed Lamont's father, Michelangelo, starting his first day at Pulp News and Aaron was showing off his very first paycheck.

All of these pictures showed the happy times that Bruce had lived.

As Bruce continued going over the old memories he couldn't help but shed a tear. Despite all the loss that his careers have brought him, the wars, the pain and sadness, Bruce was still blessed with the happiness of having a family and seeing them grow and have their own lives.

Now that both his wife and his sons were no longer part of this world, there was keeping him company. Bruce's thoughts were interrupted when the door of his study opened to reveal Lamont.

"Grandpa, are you alright?" asked Lamont

"Just fine, I'm too stubborn to die." said Bruce before closing the album.

"I'm happy for that. I was about to go out for another patrol, need anything before I leave?" asked Lamont

"Maybe another glass. Aside from that, not much." said Bruce as he got up from his chair.

Both men walked back to the basement where they decided to get everything ready for tonight.

"With all the news and calls about the Shadow it will make moving much more challenging. This put a lot of unnecessary attention on you." said Bruce as they walked.

"Maybe, but I can think some people that are happy that I'm around." said Lamont

"Back in my day, being a myth was often more useful than a superhero." said Bruce

"Times change, grandpa." said Lamont

Bruce nodded sadly, he knew that was true. As they walked he couldn't help but think that he could still do good, he wasn't ready, not yet.

* * *

The cool night air of Vale helped people walk through the park without a care in the world. At least that's what Pat believed as he helped escort one of the Council members through their nightly walk. Councilman York was a man well in his late fifties, he had dark skin, bald head, and dark mustache. He wore a dark brown coat under a blue shirt and brown pants with matching shoes. By his side stood his wife, Jesse, who had short white hair, a pair of glasses, a blue dress and a nice warm pink coat.

"How I love these nights. Don't you, Jesse?" asked York

"I do too, but I wish that we didn't need the extra protection." said Jesse

"You know that some of my counter corruption policies haven't made me very popular. This is merely a precaution. Right officer Pat?" said York

"Yes, Councilman, a mere precaution. But for me it's an excuse to stop looking for the rumored vigilante The Shadow." said Pat

And what a good precaution it was, because they were not alone.

In the Shadows of the trees a dark slender figure observed the couple. It wore a fully dark skin tight suit, grey gloves and boots, and wore a black mask that resembled a white skull.

The assassin pulled out a long white staff and pressed a button on its side making a spear tip appear. The assassin dropped down to the grass without making any noise and slowly began walking towards the lit part of the park.

This bold act was not missed on Pat, the officers or the Councilman and his wife. The officers pulled out their guns and aimed it at the armed intruder.

"Stop right there or we'll be forced to restrain you. Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air." said Pat

The dark clad assassin didn't respond and just twirled the spear with cold precision. The officers pulled the hammer of their guns and prepared to fire. Councilman York held his wife behind him as the cold dead eyes of the assassin focused on him.

The assassin stopped twirling the spear before jumping at the officers. The assassin sliced off the guns with deadly precession and smacked them unconscious before stabbing them in the legs dropping them to the ground. Pat saw this and quickly turned to the Councilman and his wife.

"Run!" called Pat before turning back and opening fire on the assassin.

The assassin spun the spear in a circle blocking the bullets as he rushed towards Pat. Just then Pat ran out of bullets and the assassin was close to spear him through the chest. Before the assassin could finish Pat, a large fell upon them and tackled the assassin away from Pat.

Pat fell down as he then saw The Shadow battling against the assassin. The Shadow used some swift punches to push the assassin back and was then forced to bob and weave the spear as the assassin thrusted it at him. The Shadow managed to catch the spear and kicked the assassin in the stomach sending him back.

"Protect the Councilman and his wife, I shall handle this fool." said The Shadow

Pat wasted no time arguing with the vigilante, despite not trusting The Shadow the job was to protect York and his wife. Pat picked himself up and rushed after the Councilman, leaving The Shadow against the mysterious assassin.

The Shadow turned back to the assassin as it spun the spear once more before jumping back into the fight. The Shadow dodged the thrust of the spear and then blocked another strike from the side. The attacks were getting faster and far more precise. The Shadow jumped back barely getting grazed on the cheek by the spear tip. The Shadow pulled out his pistols and began firing at the assassin.

The assassin jumped back and back flipped to avoid the bullets. Just then, the assassin threw his spear forcing The Shadow to jump to the side getting slashed at the side by the spear. The Shadow held his side with his left hand and continued firing at the assassin.

The assassin jumped back into the night running away from the fire.

The Shadow saw that the attacker was gone but he was able to grab hold of the weapon.

"Who are you?" asked The Shadow holding the weapon close.

* * *

"You know this is not what I was hoping to do this night." said Bruce as he placed another bandage on Lamont's side.

"I wasn't expecting to fight someone so strong so soon. He was pretty swift with his attacks." said Lamont

"Let that be a lesson, the world won't be waiting for you, you have to be ready for the world." said Bruce speaking with experience.

Bruce went to the table where the spear was laid and began looking at it.

"Did you get a good look at this man?" asked Bruce

"He was dressed in all black and he he had a skull mask imprint on his mask. He was attacking Councilman York and his wife." said Lamont

Upon hearing those words, Bruce's eyes shot open.

"Grendel." said Bruce with a dark tone.

"Who?" asked Lamont

"He's an assassin and a member of the Guild of Assassins. One that I faced when I was The Shadow. He is often hired to take out targets by people." began Bruce before pressing a button on the keyboard. A blurry picture of Grendel appeared on the screen. "Last time I faced him, he was trying to take out a police commissioner by order of a corrupt businessman. I put three slugs in his chest at close range."

"How can he be alive after that?" asked Lamont looking at the picture.

"That's the thing, this isn't the first time Grendel has been killed. Before that time he was taken out by a sword to the chest, and before that he was blown up. Grendel is more like a title that the Guild of Assassins gives their top agents. This one must be the latest one." said Bruce looking at the picture on the computer screen.

"Why target Councilman York?" asked Lamont

"Councilman York has been constantly working on making the kingdom a better place, some of those laws have made him some enemies. The latest one cut back some funding for weapon manufacturing to keep waste disposal more effective for ecologically friendly companies." said Bruce

"So, we got a long list of enemies and an assassin that keeps coming back. Marvelous." said Lamont

"Listen Lamont, Grendel is a formidable opponent and most likely highly trained, you need to stay on your toes. He'll try again, you must stop him." said Bruce narrowing his eyes.

"Time to help the Councilman.." said Lamont "Never thought I'd say that."

* * *

Pat and some of the officers were patrolling the home of the Councilman. Pat entered the main hall where York was going over some paperwork.

"All clear Councilman, anything I can do for you?" asked Pat

"Is my wife safe?" asked York

"Yes, and again I must insist that we go to the safe house instead of waiting here." said Pat

"I will not let some assassin intimidate me. You may think I'm foolish, but the only way for evil to triumph is for good men to not do anything. I've worked hard to help people and keep fools from hurting others, and I will keep on doing my job because someone has to." said York

Pat couldn't help but admire the Councilman for doing this but he still thought that they needed to follow protocol. He would've loved to have some Huntsmen around for extra measures but none were available to lend a hand. Pat had even called Headmaster Ozpin for crying out loud. He hated to admit it but bureaucracy was a pain.

Outside of the mansion, Grendel looked into the house with a pair of night vision goggles. Grendel shot a grappling hook to the roof without alerting the guarding officers. The assassin sprinted to one of the chimneys and looked to see if it was off and was ready to jump in and finish his target. Grendel pulled out his spare spear and prepared to drop down a few smoke bombs. But before he could drop them, Grendel was met with a punch to the face forcing him to drop the smoke bombs.

"You will not claim your target tonight Grendel, not as long as The Shadow is here." said The Shadow as he laughed maniacally and aimed his pistols.

Grendel sprung back into action and The Shadow was right behind him, to fight.

The Shadow and Grendel clashed with The Shadow activating his taser gun butts and Grendel using his spear. Grendel jumped back before jumping in the air and throwing his spear at The Shadow. The Shadow ducked under the spear but Grendel went over him as well. Grendel grabbed hold of the spear, stabbed it on the roof and then spun around kicking the Shadow back to the ground. The Shadow jumped back on his feet and charged at Grendel once more with his eyes narrowed.

Grendel spun around his spear before he thrusted it at The Shadow. The Shadow redirected the spear with his left pistol causing some sparks to fly before spinning on his heels to land a devastating elbow to Grendel's stomach before kicking him in the face with his right leg.

Grendel staggered back causing some noise which alerted the cops.

Grendel threw a smoke bomb in front of The Shadow. The Shadow used his cape to block the smoke but that was what Grendel needed to tackle The Shadow. Grendel dropped The Shadow on the roof shattering the glass on top of the roof bringing them both down to the room.

* * *

Councilman York, Pat and the other officers backed away as Grendel and The Shadow fell down to the ground crashing into a table. The officers, including Pat, stood ready to fire at anyone that would get up.

No one moved or made a sound as the cloud of dust and glass slowly began to fall to the ground.

No one could see or guess what would happen. Sweat started to roll down their foreheads as their nerves began to boil with excitement.

Only the sounds of the night could be heard.

Pat took one step forward causing the wood underneath him to creek. That was all it took.

A boom shook the room as The Shadow and Grendel bursted out of the rubble in opposite directions. The officers began opening fire upon the two intruders but it was for naught. The Shadow clouded the minds of the ones that were shooting at him dropping themwhile Grendel threw some knives at the ones that were shooting at him. Grendel looked at the Councilman and pulled out a third spear before he charged at him.

Pat began firing at Grendel but the trained assassin jumped over him, using Pat's head as a lifting stool. Once Grendel was high in the air he tried to throw the spear once more, but The Shadow fired his grappling hook. The grappling hook wrapped around Grendel's leg and The Shadow pulled him back down to the ground before pulling Grendel towards himself and slamming his taser handle on his face.

Grendel fell down completely knocked out as The Shadow pulled back his grappling hook. The Shadow aimed his pistol at Grendel but the sound of a secondary gun caught his attention.

"Stop right there!" called out Pat aiming his gun at The Shadow.

The Shadow could only roll his eyes at Pat's horrible timing.

"You are both under arrest, Shadow." said Pat

"Wait officer, this man just saved my life. For the second time. I think he deserves to explain himself." said York

"Sorry Councilman, but orders are orders and this man is wanted for several counts of murder and vigilante activity-" began Pat but a gunshot cut him off.

Both Pat and Councilman York looked at the Shadow and saw that he had shot Grendel in the leg.

"That should prevent him from escaping. You should look into some of the people that would like you gone Councilman." said The Shadow as he began to disappear.

Pat aimed his gun at The Shadow but he found out that it wasn't in his hand.

"Who are you?" asked Pat

"I'm The Shadow." said The Shadow before disappearing completely.

* * *

Bruce was waiting for Lamont back in the mansion, still looking through the album of pictures. He couldn't help but feel like he could do more than just prepare Lamont for what was to come, but he also knew that this was the greatest challenge of his life; watching his family grow and make their own lives.

When he was younger he believed that he could solve the problems of the world at the end of his pistols, foolishly thinking that everything was so simple to solve.

Images of his younger days flashed before Bruce's eyes. First he was in his first version of his uniform facing his enemies with cold precision. In the second one, Bruce was chasing after Selina after she stole his wallet. The third one was one of him and Selina fighting a group of terrorists with him using a tommygun and she was using a pair of dual swords. The fourth one came and there he was proposing to her with a golden ring.

Bruce wished that he had the wisdom and humility to admit that he has made a lot of good in his life, see enough more than any other man had and made done enough for his time.

"Hey grandpa, I'm back. Now before you lecture me, with Grendel captured we'll be able to find out who hired him and can use them to find the Guild of Assassins." said Lamont

"The years are catching up to me, I'm tired. I'm going to bed." said Bruce with a kind smile.

"You're kidding grandpa, you're too stubborn to go gently into the good night. Without you, The Shadow wouldn't be standing here." said Lamont

"No. Without _you,_ The Shadow would not be standing here. I raised the man, not The Shadow. And damn good one." said Bruce

Lamont gave his grandfather a smile as he accompanied his grandfather up the stairs.

Yes, Bruce had had a good life, filled with love and pain. But there is no greater glory than fighting to the bitter end to find the truth.

* * *

 **Adiós abuelito. Gracias por todo. Te extrañare.**


	8. Monstradamus

Years ago...

Many of the companies that allowed the kingdom of Vale to prosper worked on making medicine, and advances in the field of science. One of those companies was Savant Labs where people worked day and night to ensure the success of the company. Right now inside one of the labs a group of scientists, both humans and Faunus, wearing lab coats, amongst them was an elderly gentleman with a short grey beard and held a glass of champagne.

"My friends, it is with great happiness that I say to you today that we've cracked the endurance formula. With this the " said the scientist "Now people will not fall to diseases and live longer. And it is all because of you. Let the calamities of the future fear your brilliance."

The scientists cheered as they had made quite the achievement. Everyone began drinking and celebrating their accomplishment but all that went silent as a door opened and a couple of men wearing black suits and carried the Schnee Dust Company logo on them as well as the one of the Atlas military. They began packing and putting the research into the suitcases.

"What's going on? You can't come in here, this is confidential research. You can't do this." said the scientist

"Actually we can." said one of the men in suits holding out a paper.

"What's this?" asked the scientist looking over the paper.

"Schnee Dust Company and the Atlas military have made a buy out agreement with the CEO of Savant Labs which has made us in layman's terms owners of all your research and equipment. I hope you weren't saving that champagne for something." said the man with a smug face.

"You're lying, this says that the company was sold by less than its market price. Jaque and Ironwood have been muscling in on the deals that the company has had in the past. You people forced him to sell in order to save this company." said the scientist

"Words without evidence old man. Oh, and you're all fired. We'll be moving the equipment to Atlas, where the real scientists will put this stuff to work." said the man in the suit.

Some of the men in suits began pushing and moving the scientists out of the lab. The old scientist grabbed hold of one of the soldier's guns and aimed it at the men in suits.

"You won't take our research, I know what you're planning to do with it. You want to make it a weapon." said the scientist

"Sir. please put down the gun, I can guarantee that I can put your mind at ease." said the man in the suit

The scientist looked at the frightened looks of his colleagues and put the gun down. But this act of rational thought was met with betrayal. The man in the suit kicked the scientist into a table filled with chemicals and bunsen burners causing a chemical reaction.

"Get out now!" said the man in a suit as the fire began spreading through the lab.

Everyone was able to get out,...all except the monster that was born that day.

* * *

Present Day...

The night was dark and the people of Vale were none the wiser to the events that were going to take place amidst the dark of the night. In the lobby of the Remnant Rivera a party was taking place. The man of the hour was a man with short black hair, a sleazy smile and a black suit. His name was Taro Kono. He was being given the Remnant Prize for his humanitarian actions.

Amongst the crowd of people was none other than Lamont Cranston and Margo Lane, who had gotten entrance to the event to do a piece on Taro Kono.

Lamont was wearing a black shite with a white shirt and a black tie. Margo was wearing a blue dress with a black jacket and high heels, she didn't seem happy.

"When you told me you needed my help on a story, I never thought you'd bring me to this pit of snakes." said Margo

"I thought you'd enjoy coming to a party in the name of a man with a shady past. Taro used to work for SDC years ago and then one day began his own company which became popular overnight, makes you raise an eyebrow doesn't it?" asked Lamont grabbing a pair of drinks.

Margo grew a small smile as she grabbed one of the drinks that Lamont gave her.

"At least I'm not here as eye candy. Besides my Shadow investigation is sorta gotten more interesting but a little stale." said Margo before taking a sip of her drink, but then something caught her eye. "Speaking of 'interesting but a little stale', look who just arrived."

Lamont followed Margo's eye line and spotted Weiss Schnee, the heiress of SDC. She was wearing a clear blue dress with a blue belt wrapped around her waist and a dress jacket on her shoulders.

"What do you think she's doing here?" asked Margo

"With your permission, I'll go ask." said Lamont with Margo giving him the thumbs up.

With that said Lamont made his way to where Weiss was standing talking to some people. Despite her educated demeanor and her smile, Lamont could tell that she was hating every second of being amongst the elite members of Vale.

"I wasn't aware that a member of the Schnee family would be amongst the guest to this event." said Lamont getting Weiss's attention.

Weiss looked at Lamont with a little hint of disinterest but kept her regal demeanor. She was trying to give the sense that she was worthy of her grandfather's company and that she was nothing like her father.

"Yes, well I was invited to this even as a way to represent my family. Forgive me sir, but I didn't catch your name." said Weiss

"Sorry about that, my experience with women has taught me that they don't necessarily want to be treated like priceless china. My name is Lamont Cranston. I'm an editor for Pulp News and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions." said Lamont

That managed to get Weiss' attention.

"You are from that paper that talks about the vigilante, The Shadow?" asked Weiss

"Among other things, but yes, we write about The Shadow. Is it ok if I ask you a few questions about the event?" asked Lamont

"Of the event?" asked Weiss a little confused.

"Yes. If you wouldn't mind." said Lamont.

"Very well, you may ask your questions." said Weiss guessing that it had something to do with her family's company.

"Thank you. How exactly do you know the man of the hour, Mr. Kono? Was he a former employee of SDC?" asked Lamont

"Yes, he used to work for my father as one of his advisors. But a couple of years ago he left the company to start on something else." responded Weiss

"Did you know at the time what he was starting on? Or that it would lead him to working on medicine?" asked Lamont writing down Weiss's words.

"At the time I never thought about it. It was a big change I will admit, but I've heard that he's been quite praised for his company's innovative work." said Weiss

"What exactly do you think that got him the humanitarian award, the strengthen medicine as the call it?" asked Lamont

"I haven't really though much of it. I must admit that I thought your questions were going to be directed towards me, Mr. Cranston." said Weiss

"Well I'll be sure to ask you any questions you'd like if you win the humanitarian award in the future Ms. Schnee. Thank you for answering my questions." said Lamont before leaving Weiss with a breath of fresh air.

Lamont went to where Margo was and she gave him a sly smile.

"So you find anything interesting? It's not everyday you speak to a heiress." said Margo

"She was a little stuck up and too underdeveloped for my taste. Apparently the rumors of Taro working for SDC are true and was an advisor for the CEO. However, after a successful job he decided to start this company focusing on medicine instead of dust. He also had or still has a vicious fortune seeker, his profits speak for themselves." said Lamont

"Interesting indeed, my dear Watson." said Margo

"If anything you're Watson. Now for the man himself." said Lamont as Taro Kono took to the stage to give a speech.

"Hello everyone, I would like to thank you all for coming. It is a great honor to receive this award. When I started this company I sought to find a way to help people, to make the lives of those in need a little better. I promise you all that I will continue to work in order to make the world a better place." said Taro while holding up a small golden coin inside an open wooden box pridefully.

Everyone began clapping but the cheering didn't last long.

A large sentient blue blob crashed through the door of the lobby shattering the glass and tearing through the hotel security like it was nothing. The blob looked like a vicious monster with a large gaping mouth and a pair of red glowing eyes. It had formed arms that could easily knock away anyone that got in its way.

People looked in horror as some even screamed at the sight of the creature before running.

"I guess you can't say that I don't take you to fun places." said Lamont as he and Margo helped people get away from the monster.

"Less talking, more running away from the monster." said Margo as she helped some people escape.

Lamont used the chaos to his advantage and quickly slipped into one of the corridors. He quickly took off his suit and like any hero put on his uniform.

* * *

Back at the lobby, the monster had cornered Kono and swatted away anyone that got in its way.

"Kono, you will pay for your crimes!" yelled the monster.

Weiss cursed herself for not brining her weapon or something to defend herself. Now she was stuck helping the civilians get out of the lobby as quickly as possible.

The monster raised its right arm high in the air about to smash Kono like an insect. Weiss saw this and tried to summon her glyphs to save the man. But someone beat her to it. Before Weiss could do or say anything else, the sound of gun fire caught her attention.

As the monster was about to kill Taro Kono, a swift barrage of bullets tore apart its arm. The monster roared in pain as it turned to the source of the gun fire. And was met with a haunting laugh.

 **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...**

Before the few people that were in the lobby was The Shadow with both of his pistols smoking.

"You will not harm the innocent tonight, beast. Now you face The Shadow." said The Shadow aiming his pistols at the monster before it roared at the The Shadow.

The monster charged at The Shadow trying to swallow the vigilante, but The Shadow jumped out of the way and then fired its grappling gun to fly to the other side of the room. The Shadow fired his pistol at the creature but it didn't seem to cause much other than make the monster a little annoyed. The Shadow landed on the floor as the monster turned around and turned into a ball and tried to swallow the Shadow once more.

Weiss couldn't believe her eyes. The Shadow was here and was fighting against the monster. She'd read and heard of him from newspapers and her teammates Ruby and Yang, but she never thought that he was real.

Back in the fight, The Shadow kept moving as the monster kept on attacking as its arm had grown back. The Shadow noticed that the creature resembled a slime and its body was composed of chemicals. The Shadow spotted a fire fighter hose on the side he quickly grabbed hold of it and aimed it at the creature.

The creature roared and charged at the vigilante and time seemed to slowdown for everyone as the creature closed in. The Shadow opened the hose unleashing a powerful blast of high pressured water. The beast struggled against the torrent but The Shadow did not relent as he kept on pushing. The monster's blob like body began to dissolve down until it was a semi-formed puddle.

"Who are you? Why did you attack Kono?" asked The Shadow

"Taro shall pay for his crimes! So predicts Monstradamus!" swore the creature before it faded away.

Now the things had just gotten complicated. The Shadow was curious as to who this "Monstradamus" was and it appeared that he was not the only one. The Shadow spotted Taro Kono trying to sneak away with a look of guilt on his face. Just as The Shadow was about to get some answers out of him, something had pressed on his back.

"Stop right there vigilante." called a voice from behind The Shadow.

The Shadow looked over his shoulder and spotted Weiss Schnee holding a swordfish.

"I believe that is suppose to be in the kitchen, Ms. Schnee." said The Shadow

"Don't try any trick, I am going to bring you in for your acts of violence and brutality." said Weiss trying to get The Shadow to see her as a threat, but it wasn't working.

The Shadow gave Taro one final look before he disappeared before Weiss's eyes. The heiress was left shocked at the vanishing act of The Shadow and eventually let out a tiered sigh.

* * *

A short time after the authorities showed up. Witnesses were giving their statements and Lamont managed to reunite with Margo.

"Lamont, are you alright? I lost sight of you amidst the chaos, what happened?" asked Margo

"I didn't see much but the monster seemed to be after Kono. It said that someone by the name of 'Monstradamus' predicted it," said Lamont before they both looked at Kono who was talking to the cops. "He's hiding something."

"But what is it?" asked Margo

Before either of the reporters could go ask, none other than Weiss Schnee came forth to them.

"Excuse me, I was just wondering if you two were alright? That vigilante sure made a mess when he fought that monster." said Weiss

"We're alright Ms. Schnee. I'd like to introduce one of my partners in crime, Margaret Lane." said Lamont

"Nice to meet you Ms. Schnee. You said you saw The Shadow, right?" asked Margo

"Yes, I saw him but sadly managed to escape." said Weiss

"Tell me everything." said Margo as she pulled out a recorder.

* * *

Lamont had returned to his base of operations and began analyzing a sample of the creature that he had taken at the end of the fight. The liquid goo was put under a microscope and Lamont began looking at it.

"I heard the party was crashed, what happened?" asked Bruce

"A blob monster attacked Kono, it appears to be made of some sort of chemical compound but it held intelligence and a form of sorts." said Lamont as he looked though the microscope.

In front of Lamont's eyes, the substance began to rearrange itself and merge back together.

"Take a look at this." said Lamont with a little surprise.

Bruce did as Lamont instructed and saw that the sample had gotten back together in one piece.

"What is this? The chemicals are somehow coming back together." said Bruce

"There appears to be a special formula that keeps the blob from fully coming apart. Oddly enough that is exactly what Kono's formula does. This Monstradamus could be the one that Lombar mentioned was getting all sorts of chemicals." said Lamont before grabbing one of the medicine samples he had gotten.

Lamont and Bruce began analyzing the two different things. But the more they looked at the two formulas it seemed like the one that kept the monster together was much stronger, perhaps much stronger and stable.

"The formula on the Monster is still running, while Kono's has already run out. It would seem someone managed to copy his formula and make it stronger." said Lamont

"Or Kono copied the formula in a weaker state." suggested Bruce

"Then it's time to look into Kono's sudden rise to fame, and to get answers about Monstradamus." said Lamont

* * *

The following night, The Shadow flew through the night sky until he landed on the roof of Kono's labs, where the medicine was produced. The Shadow noticed on the groups of armed man doing their rounds. A little too armed for a simple medicine lab, Taro was paranoid for something.

The Shadow snuck through a window and made his way to the main office and where they would put the company archives. The Shadow picked the lock and opened the archives.

Most of the papers were standard things, nothing that would be too bad for someone. However, the profits of the company were too fast and the latest product was out in a manner of weeks with little preparation. That meant that there was something else afoot. The Shadow then went into the main computer in hopes of finding something that could help put sense to everything. Just then he found something that truly stood out to The Shadow. A triply encrypted folder of documents.

Before The Shadow was the record of the formula but it didn't come from Kono's company, it came from a place called Savant Labs. The Shadow looked at some of the other documents that had the same lab written in the documents. Each of the documents had records and all the different steps that showed the development of the medicine. Amongst the documents was a picture of a man in his late forties with a short beard and glasses. The document identified the man as Professor Montgomery Namez. The document describes the professor as a visionary man that could predict the future.

The Shadow downloaded the files while also coming across a video that had been taken from Savant Labs. In the video feed, it showed the old man keeping Taro from getting the research that he had worked hard on and Taro kicking the old man into some unstable chemicals.

The Shadow couldn't help but rage at Taro's actions. Next stop, Savant Labs.

* * *

The Shadow rushed to the abandoned building that used to be Savant Labs. The building had been burnt and people stayed away from it as it apparently wasn't safe due to chemical residue. The Shadow looked around for the man that could give The Shadow some answers.

The badly burnt marks warped and changed the corridors of the building almost as if the place was a depiction of entropy itself. The was were torn, burnt, and falling apart. The scorch marks made it look like demons or horrors were popping out and that eyes appeared on the floor and ceiling.

The Shadow couldn't help but feel like every step he took the deeper he'd walk into the mind of a madman.

"A single fire didn't cause this." said The Shadow to himself.

Just then, the sound of reacting chemicals followed by a demented laughter echoed through the corridor. The Shadow followed the noise and soon found himself on a makeshift laboratory in the basement of the building. The room was a mess, with notes written on the walls, burnt marks that took the shape of nightmarish monsters, and the shadow casted by the fire at the back of the room were down right frightening.

Before the fire was a skinny man wearing a long black robes and rags, it had a long white beard and pale skin with burnt marks. The poor husk of a man was mumbling something to himself as he observed a bubbling cauldron.

"Professor Namez," said The Shadow causing the man to stop, but only for a moment.

The man didn't turn to face The Shadow and instead continued to look at the cauldron.

"I know what happened to you, I want to bring the man to justice. Please tell me what happened Professor Namez." said The Shadow

"I no longer go by that name. Not since that day. I'sa wanted to help others, but...They... **HE**... **They**...turned my work into a monster...They want monsters! I shall give them monsters! I AM MONSTRADAMUS!" said Monstradamus as he cackled to himself.

Monstradamus threw a glass bottle at The Shadow's feet and it suddenly morphed into another blob monster. The Shadow jumped back as the mad scientist continued to laugh his mind off. Now The Shadow could see the madness of the poor man's broken mind and it looked like an inferno swallowing the world.

But The Shadow had to focus now on his current enemy, the Monster kept swinging like mad keeping The Shadow on his feet. It wasn't just trying to kill him but it was trying to allow its creator escape.

The Shadow was done wasting time and was ready this time for the blob monster. The Shadow pulled a small capsule from his belt and threw it at the blob monster. The blob monster swallowed it before it exploded and froze the monster from the inside. The Shadow saw that a window leading to the outside was open, Monstradamus was about to even the score with Kono.

* * *

Taro Kono had decided to have another party since he believed that the people of Vale deserved to hear his speech and giving him an extra check for paying for the repairs. He had made another event in the same hotel, but this time in the pent house.

Margo had managed to get into the building hoping to get some information as to why anyone would go after Taro Kono. Margo rolled her eyes as Kono began his speech as he gave a check to the owner of the hotel, but the cheers didn't last long.

Suddenly a demented laugh echoed through the sky as Monstradamus and his blob monsters crashed the party. The monsters attacked and caused chaos through the party making the guests to run away in fear, but one person was stopped from fleeing.

One of the monsters had caught Taro Kono and raised him at the eye sight of Monstradamus.

"It would seem the tables have turned, Mr. Kono. Or would you prefer Advisor Kono?" asked Monstradamus as he continued to cackle to himself.

"I don't know who you are, please let me go." begged Kono

"Oh, that's right. You don't recognize me. I mean, who could possibly forget the man that you kicked into a chemical fire after you stole everything he worked for." said Monstradamus

The monster's grip on Kono began to tighten as it started to swallow him.

"Namez? NO you should be dead." said Kono struggling

"Oh, don't misunderstand, Montgomery Namez died that night. But I was born, and like a monster in the night I shall make you suffer for stealing everything from me. Tell me how is it that Schnee and Ironwood never got my research and yet you became rich? Did you decided to keep everything and claimed that everything was destroyed in the fire? Your greed shall be your doom." said Monstradamus as his monster continued to swallow Kono.

Unbeknownst to the two men Margo was hearing everything from underneath one of the tables.

"Please, I'll give you anything-" said Kono before Monstradamus gripped his throat.

"All I want is for you to suffer." said Monstradamus

Right before the mad scientist could end Kono a barrage of bullets flew directly at him followed by a haunting laughter.

 **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...**

The Shadow had arrived and quickly began fighting off against the blob monsters.

"You shall not take any lives today Monstradamus. Justice will come for those that deserve it." said The Shadow as he fired another shot into a monster's head.

Monstradamus pulled out a red elixir from his rags as one of his creatures turned into an eagle and picked him up.

"At least I'll see you all burn!" said Monstradamus cackling to himself before dropping the elixir.

Once the elixir touched the ground, all remaining blobs began burning. The Shadow had to choose between the mad scientist or saving the people that were in the building.

The Shadow pulled out all the freezing capsules that he still had and jumped high in the air. The Shadow threw all the capsules down upon the fires and were quickly put out as the blobs turned to ice, including the one that held onto Taro Kono.

The Shadow landed on the ground just as Margo got out from underneath the table.

"Get me out of this thing, now!" demanded Kono

The Shadow responded with a swift punch to the face. The Shadow walked over to Margo before pulling out the USB with the documents.

"That seemed uncalled for." said Margo before The Shadow gave her the USB.

"Make sure everyone knows what's in here. So they know just how much of a 'humanitarian' Taro Kono truly is." said The Shadow before going to the semi conscious Taro. "The Shadow knows." sending chills down Taro Kono's spine.

The Shadow disappeared before the cops arrived. A day later everything in the USB was revealed and the authorities took Kono into custody to answer for all of his crimes.


	9. A Pair of Lien

From the very night that The Shadow began making his war against crime everyone has been taking sides on his actions. Most people in Vale have deemed the vigilante's actions as condemnable given that he acted outside the law. Others said that some of the criminals deserved to be taken out given the rampage of crimes that no one seemed to be able to stop.

However, as all things appear to be, things mattered more in Beacon Academy.

Everyone in Beacon had their own opinion on The Shadow and his actions since they were of course they were the eventual 'protectors' of the world. Most if not all of the faculty thought of The Shadow as a criminal vigilante that had no business doing the things he did. Some of the students were convinced that the vigilante was awesome and that his actions were making a difference, while others called him a freak.

Amongst these different opinions was team RWBY. The all female team were currently watching a news interview of different people giving their own opinions as the few images of The Shadow appeared on the screen.

"He is a menace that goes against the values of our society." said one man

"I'm surprise that there aren't more people like him, people are tiered of waiting for Huntsmen to do something." said a teenager

"I used to feel like my street wasn't safe, but if this guy can stand up to crime then I can as well." said a woman holding a bat.

"These are just some of the opinions that the citizens of Vale have given about the mysterious vigilante and how he, or she, has affected everyday life. Sadly, we haven't been able to get much information about the vigilante's agenda and his ultimate goal. But the questions are still going through the heads of everyone: Who is The Shadow? Is he a friend or a foe? We will be back after these short messages." said Vicky the newswoman.

Upon that statement, team RWBY turned on their own discussion regarding the topic.

"See Yang? The guy we saw that night was The Shadow! We met a superhero!" said Ruby the ever enthusiastic leader.

"I remember him slamming into a poor biker dude that had just been blown up with a building. He has murdered several criminals in the last couple of weeks, so I wouldn't really call him a superhero, antihero fits better." said Yang the busty blond brawler.

"Let's not forget that he is also as dangerous as the criminals he fights. If only I had had my weapon that night I would've caught him, instead he made a joke and then disappeared." said Weiss with some annoyance.

"Was it a good joke?" asked Yang

"More like a clever observation, but that's not the point." replied Weiss

Blake the secret Faunus of the group had remained quiet as she wasn't quite sure on what to think of The Shadow. He was believed to be the one responsible for the massacre of the White Fang in their hideout. Sure they were misguided but they didn't deserve that kind of fate thought Blake. However, the police found a lot of weapons and dust that had been stolen from trains going to Vale which put Blake in a very compromising position. For one she didn't agree with his methods but he was only attacking criminals something that kept the dust heists at a minimum.

"Hey Blake." said Yang getting Blake out of her thoughts.

"Wha-" said Blake

"You were spacing out, thinking of the vigilante?" asked Yang

"A little." replied Blake "I just wonder what he may be doing at this very moment."

* * *

At that very moment, Lamont Cranston, The Shadow, was snoring on his desk. After pulling an all night patrol of the kingdom, stopping several dust robberies by the White Fang, some murder attempts, and a bank heist, Lamont was very tiered. And didn't care what people thought of him on the news.

Sadly, Lamont's rest was cut short by none other than Margo with several stacks of paper.

"Wha?" said Lamont as he rubbed his eyes awake.

"Sleep a little at night Lam, you'll live a little longer." said Margo

Lamont began looking over all the papers that Margo had given him, and they were all about different crimes on different locations. Locations and addresses that he recognized.

"What's all this?" asked Lamont

"Despite The Shadow's actions against the criminal underworld there have been some attacks in the same locations." said Margo

"Yeah, crimes seems to be just as high as it was before his arrival. These places aren't in the same neighborhood which means that these guys are hitting these places for some other reason." said Lamont

"Speaking of crime, the dust robberies have been getting more frequent and people all point to Roman Torchwick. Why so you think he's doing this? He is now one of the most wanted criminals in Vale considering that The Shadow has cut down the competition." said Margo

"We should keep an eye out on him, after all he has a history of stealing things to sell them to others in the Black Market. If he hasn't sold it yet then he could be looking for a buyer or he's planning on raising dust prices to then make a profit for himself or a partner." said Lamont

"Any other theories detective Cranston?" asked Margo

"I'll go talk to Pat and see if he knows something." said Lamont getting up from his desk.

Lamont hoped that his friend could give him some answers, on either the attacks or the White Fang's return, at least something that could keep him awake for some reason.

* * *

Roman Torchwick wasn't a happy man at the moment. The criminal wore his usual white jacket, black pants, and bowler hat as he paced and twirled his cane.

He had to work for a pyromaniac in her crazy plan to do something or another, then he had to work on some heists with the White Fang which had pretty bad results, but now he had a greater problem. That problem was that The Shadow was taking down almost all his heists. Last night would've been his last night if he hadn't been stuck in the bathroom all night.

"Ok, let's see. If I go out and steal the Dust, I'll most likely will get a bullet to the head. If I don't go out and steal the Dust, I'll be roasted by little miss fire fingers." said Roman to himself with a sigh. "This could not get any worse, at all."

"I hate to rub salt on the wound, but you do tend to pick the losing horse, Mr. Torchwick." called a voice from the darkness.

Torchwick yelped a little as he turned around to see none other than Shiwan Khan, stepping out of the shadows.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Torchwick aiming his cane at Khan.

"You know very well who I am, since you are using one of my warehouses as your employer's personal Dust storage room. I'll send you the bill for using it." said Shiwan not being phased with the weapon pointed at his face.

"Wait, you're Shiwan Khan? And what do you mean 'your warehouse' that thing is owned by Stillwater Co.? Last time I checked you only own Kahn Industries." said Torchwick

"But I also own several hollow corporations, including Stillwater Co., as well as own several stocks of other companies. But I haven't come here to discuss my well financial state. I've come here to offer you a job. A job that is right up your alley." said Shiwan

At that moment Roman began to laugh, almost as if he had been told the best joke in the world. Roman almost doubled down in laughter as Shiwan kept a straight face.

"I don't see the funny part." said Shiwan

"You do realize I have better things to do than work for you right? Big plans and whatnot." said Roman

"Roman, with all due respect; You have no imagination. All you do is out of necessity. Don't get me wrong, you do play the part of the suave criminal rather well but your accomplices and the grunts you surround yourself with have no real idea of what they're doing, which doesn't help you." said Shiwan

"Listen buddy, you're pushing your luck so you better shut it before I give you a flare up the nose." said Roman but Shiwan wasn't phased by it.

"Here's what you don't understand Roman, what you're doing will work in the short run but in the long run will be catastrophic. Putting the White Fang as your go to muscle has put them in a more compromising position than the one they already were in. Which will prompt humans and Faunus to start fighting, and fighting always leads to war. "And Wars do not decide who is right, only who is left"." said Shiwan

"Good thing I'm ambidextrous. Now you best give me a good reason not to waste you." said Torchwick aiming his cane.

Shiwan only pulled out a small mirror from his pocket and faced it towards Roman. Roman just put down his cane and grunted.

"Like I said, no imagination." said Shiwan as the mirror showed Roman being aimed at by ten different laser pointer guns.

* * *

Lamont had arrived at the police headquarters of Vale and immediately found Pat doing some paper work.

"Hello detective Finnegan. Taking care of the most dreadful things I see." said Lamont

"I wish I could find whoever invented paperwork and shot him. What can I do for you Lamont?" asked Pat looking up to see Lamont.

"I've come here to ask you about the attacks on the different locations throughout Vale. They've been happening for the last couple of months and their activity hasn't decreased." said Lamont

Pat rubbed his eyes in slight annoyance.

"The attacks have been relatively contained to some places, but even with the constant request of aid Beacon can't afford to send help. Honestly the crime in those places sure is messy considering that there are some good businesses." said Pat

"Thanks, I'll be in touch." said Lamont

"If you get anything on The Shadow let me know. I'd like to nail that guy for once. He has been making us look bad enough." said Pat as Lamont looked at him over his shoulder.

"I'll do that." replied Lamont

"And next time bring Margo with you." said Pat

"Like she said, she's not interested." said Lamont with a chuckle.

* * *

Lamont had gone back to his secret lair and began putting in the recordings of the different places these attacks were taking place. The computer lit up and it gave a green light.

"I knew it. These attacks are not unrelated, they are related. The same places that Shiwan Khan was planning on purchasing are all here." said Lamont "Time to get some answers."

The map in the screen lit up and showed some of the places that were going to be hit. These people were going to wish they never crossed The Shadow's path.

* * *

The night had fallen and the lights began to come alive. Roman Torchwick was sitting in a van filled with members of The Sons of Grimm and they were all looking at him like he was their next meal.

"So, I take it that this is you're all first time working with me, huh?" asked Roman "Should I introduce myself?"

"We know who you are. But you don't remember us, do you?" asked one of the bikers.

The man was skinny with a goat tee, shaggy hair, a mean attitude and wore a black leather jacket, red shirt, black pants and matching boots.

"Um, did I threatened you before?" asked Roman

"My name is Luther they call me Claw. You sold me and some of our guys some guns a few years back. And then forgot to tell us about the crappy workmanship. The damn things broke down and jammed after one use. Not to mention that you sold all the guns that we actually ordered to some other bastards at half the damn price." said Claw

"Oh yeah, I remember now...Oh." said Roman with a nervous chuckle.

"After the job's done, you'll meet my friends. They are big fans of medieval tools. Watch your ass." said Claw

Roman chuckled as some of the members of the Sons of Grimm cracked their knuckles. The van suddenly stopped and the bikers all grabbed their weapons and open the van door. Roman tried to sneak out of their sight but Claw grabs him by the shirt and drags him out along with the rest of the bikers.

"Alright, Torchwick, you know what to do." said Claw

"Put on a show. Well might as well be the ring master of this circus." said Roman like a rat on a trap.

The bikers and Roman walked out of the alley into the street across from a massive fortress of a Lien manufacturing plant. This place was one of the locations that the biker gang had been hitting under the orders of Shiwan Khan. This place was settled near the outskirts of the kingdom meaning that the police wouldn't get there easily. A nice place, more specifically, a nice location.

The Sons of Grimm wasted no time and headed towards the entrance while pushing Roman to be in front.

The Sons of Grimm quickly fired at the security cameras and any poor guard that came their way. Meanwhile, Roman was trying to put his best man in charge face.

"Alright boys, let's do what we came here to do. Claw, old buddy, what did we come here to do?" asked Roman acting like his usual self.

"We're here to hit this place hard." said Claw

"Ah, yes. Let's get to it." said Roman as he smacked a police officer in the face.

The ragtag group of bad guys made it to the bill processing machines and began firing at the workers making them flee in terror. Roman fired one flare at one of the machines causing a small fire.

"Now that was fun, now let's fill out our pockets." said Roman as he went to the machine and began filling the bags with money.

However, the Sons of Grimm kept their guns up towards the windows and looked up in case they received a visit from the thing that lived by night.

"Come on fellas, I would love to keep all this untraceable money but I can't carry it all on my own. This place is well lit, the nut job vigilante would be stupid to come here. Plus, we outnumber him. I honestly don't know why people are so afraid of him." said Roman oblivious to the Shadow's reputation.

Someone would say, famous last words.

Right after Roman said those words the lights of the building began to flicker causing everyone to look alert as the shadows of the room began to creep closer and closer to the people in room. Soon enough the floor and the walls were all completely covered in shadows and no lights from the outside could come into the building.

"Look alive boys! He's here!" said Claw

"Just what makes you say that?" asked Roman as from the darkness rose a pair of red eyes.

A pistol appeared beside Roman's ear and was fired at the Sons of Grimm. Roman fell down with a horrible ringing in his ear as the bullet shot one of the bikers in the shoulder.

At that moment all Hell broke loose as the Sons of Grimm began to open fire on The Shadow. The Shadow fired his grappling hook and flew high in the air dodging the bullets. The Shadow landed on one of the coin holding cranes and aimed both of his pistols at the bikers and began to fire upon them. The bikers scattered as the bullets struck two of their own.

"Light him up boys!" said Claw as he began firing at The Shadow.

The bikers began firing at where the Shadow was which forced the Shadow to drop the crane with him landing shortly after it. The crane made all the bikers jump back giving The Shadow a chance to strike.

Roman slowly got back up with his ear ringing and bleeding. The criminal looked up in shock as The Shadow faced off against the Sons of Grimm with skill and power that Huntsmen would kill for.

The Shadow ducked under some of the bullets and got close enough to punch the air out of Claw making him double down. The Shadow pulled one of his pistols and fired at another biker in the chest twice. One of the bikers rushed towards The Shadow but the vigilante blocked the rifle with his pistol and then gave the biker a haymaker to the face.

The Shadow fired his grappling hook once more at one of the boxes filled with paper and flung it at one of the bikers. The biker got a box to the face before The Shadow jumped in the air and slammed his elbow on the man's stomach before spinning and shooting the last biker in the face.

The Shadow walked towards Claw as he tried to punch the vigilante but missed. The Shadow gripped his arm and punched him in the elbow breaking it before slamming Claw onto the processing band and then activating the electric current of his pistol and struck Claw in the throat electrocuting him. The Shadow turned to face Roman who got out of his stupor and fired his cane at the vigilante.

The Shadow rolled out of the way as the flare went past him before he rushed towards Roman. Roman's face began to get drenched from the sweat as The Shadow effortlessly dodged and spun around the flares he fired. The vigilante appeared and disappeared as the flickering of the lights went crazy making it seem that the vigilante was a spirit of darkness that couldn't be touched.

"Stay away, stay away, stay away!" yelped Roman as he tried to flee but The Shadow appeared before him cutting him off.

The lowlife thief swung his cane in fear but The Shadow caught it and then kicked Roman in the stomach before snapping the cane across his face. Roman desperately threw punch after punch but The Shadow blocked and countered every single one.

The Shadow landed blow after blow on the thief's ribs cracking some of them before punching him in the jaw with an uppercut.

Roman tried to crawl away but The Shadow crushed his hand before pulling him up by the neck of his shirt.

"Roman Torchwick, you are the one that has been leading the Dust robberies for the last few weeks. What are you doing here?" asked The Shadow

"I was looking for some spare cash," said Roman causing the vigilante to slam him on one of the walls.

"You are not one of the Sons of Grimm, why were you leading them here? Who put you up to this?" asked The Shadow

"I'm a professional buddy, I won't tell you a thing," said Torchwick laughing trying to act tough.

The Shadow remained quiet for a moment, before he began chuckling alongside Roman. The chuckle slowly began to get louder and louder and then it turned into a hearty laugh. Roman's own laugh began to die down as The Shadow's laugh began to echo as in Roman's eyes he began to grow bigger.

 _ **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA**_ _ **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**_

The Shadow now stood twice his size over Roman and his eyes were bright red casting down a light upon the criminal. Romans eyes shrunk in fear as the apparition before him actually appeared to have a jagged mouth with fire coming out through its teeth. The laughter continued to echo in Roman's mind almost as if it was the laughter of one of those demons that he had heard of when he was little.

"You will. I will make sure of that." said The Shadow looking straight into Roman's soul.

Before The Shadow could fully put the fear of god into Roman's heart the sounds of sirens broke through the door as Pat and some officers entered the room.

The untimely arrival of the police caused the illusion to break down, but the damage had been done as Roman shook where he stood.

"Shadow stop right there! You're surrounded!" said Pat

The Shadow saw how the officers and members of SWAT surrounded him. Just as he was about to cloud their minds, Roman pushed The Shadow away giving the officers to open fire at the vigilante. The vigilante fired a single shot nailing Roman in the back of his leg but he was grazed by one of the shots before throwing a smoke bomb and disappearing before the officer's eyes. The police continued to fire upon where the Shadow had been but he was long gone.

Roman tried to escape but Pat tackled him to the floor before putting the cuffs on him.

"Roman Torchwick, many people have been looking forward to meeting you downtown. You have the right to remain silent." said Pat as he pulled up Roman.

Outside the building, The Shadow looked at the patrol cars as Pat put Roman inside one of them. At least he knew.


	10. Shots Fired

The news of the attack on the Lien manufacturing building spread like wildfire. People were asking who or what caused the Sons of Gimm and Roman Torchwick to do something like that, but they were met with silence and mere assumptions. The only thing that was known for sure was that The Shadow had been there and stopped their plans and that Roman had been taken into custody.

The former rising star criminal was the only so far that had survived The Shadow's wrath and was the police's only source of who might the vigilante be as well as the reason behind his theft of Dust stores.

Roman Torchwick had been thrown in prison by Vale PD and was currently being interrogated by Pat and another officer, his superior Chief Galespy.

The chief was an older man with short white hair, fair skin and wore a black suit with a white shirt.

"Alright Torchwick, start talking. Why were you at the manufacture tonight?" asked Pat

"You're only making things more difficult for yourself, son. I've busted you a couple of times and I know that you'd never hit such a well armed place, you prefer stores and banks." said the Chief.

Roman remained quiet almost as if he couldn't talk.

"What did you see? Why was the Shadow there?" asked Pat

That got a reaction out of Roman, as soon as he heard that name he began to breath quickly and feel like the darkness of the room got closer and closer towards him.

"Please, you got to keep me away from him!" said Roman "That man is a monster in the night, I've met some crazy and scary people in my day, but...but this guy he's something else. He fought like a possessed being, he was swallowed by the shadows and reappeared at will and his laughter I can still hear it echoing in my head."

This put the two cops in a confused state.

The Shadow had been striking against crime and arguably things were much better, but his actions still put him at odds with the law. But despite how impactful his actions were he would disappear in the night without a trace.

Before the two officers could get some more information out of the criminal they heard a tap on the window. The officers stepped out while Roman begged them to leave the lights on.

Outside of the interrogation room stood one of the officers and Glynda Goodwitch of all people.

"Hello Professor Goodwitch, what can I do for you? We were in the middle of an interrogation." said Chief Galespy.

"I am here because of that chief. You are to release Roman Torchwick into Beacon custody. Effected immediately." said Glynda giving the chief a paper. "You'll see that everything is in order."

The Chief and Pat took a look at the paper and Pat answered with disbelief.

"Are you serious? We caught him while you and your huntsmen have been doing squat and now that we've got him you want him to take the credit? No way." said Pat

"Torchwick is part of an investigation that has been deemed for huntsmen and huntresses only. Surrendering him to us is the best way to get results." said Goodwitch feeling a little annoyed by Pat's reaction.

"Then how come we're only hearing from this now?" asked Galespy

"As I said, the investigation was deemed only suited for huntsmen and huntresses. Headmaster Ozpin deemed it so after careful consideration." said Glynda

"Sounds to me like smoke and mirrors. Councilman York has been making sure that the police are aware of any and all huntsmen mission as to better respond to them. Now Ozpin the Great has decided to work against him. That's fishy to say the least. What kind of crap are trying to pull here?" said Pat

"Chief Galespy, are you going to allow this kind of language in your station?" asked Glynda

"I'll let him know when he says something that I don't agree with." said Galespy in a stern tone.

Glynda only sneered in annoyance.

"If Roman Torchwick is working for someone, or because of his connections with the underworld, someone is going to try to get him. The safest place is here. If you take him out at this time, people will try to whack him." said Pat

"I can assure you detective, no one will lay a finger on Mr. Torchwick." said Glynda

Police and huntsmen were not often at odds but they did butt heads form time to time given that huntsmen were given more leisure than the police in their jobs. Councilman York had tried to help ease the disagreements but it was hard keeping both sides happy because many didn't want to compromise.

Amidst the conversation someone entered the interrogation room getting Roman's attention. Roman was about to say something when the man placed Roman's scroll in front of Roman's face and a text message could be seen. Roman's eyes widen as he read what it said, and it said that 'I'll be seeing you soon'.

The officer then placed the scroll on Roman's coat and left the interrogation room.

Roman had a face of utter terror as Pat and Galespy entered the room once more.

"It appears that against our better judgement, you'll be transferred to an undisclosed location where Professor Goodwitch will take you off our hands." said Chief Galespy.

"But before we hand you over to Ms. Stick-up-her-behind, what do you know about the vigilante?" asked Pat hoping that Roman would spill something.

"I'll never get there. You can't see it can you? You can't see them because they don't want you to." said Roman

"Who, Roman? Who are they? Where are they?" asked Pat hoping to get the information.

"You won't see them coming. They are smoke, smoke in the shadows. They live in the darkness and aren't afraid of stepping into the light. I saw it in his eyes, a true inferno. And he will stop at nothing to accomplish his mission." said Roman before two officers came to take him away.

Pat looked at Galespy but was met with as much doubt as he had himself.

* * *

Outside the Police Department, The Shadow observed the building.

"I can't believe I'm going to break into the department." said The Shadow

"At the least you won't be seen, and it's not like you're after someone in the police force." said Bruce through the communicator.

"I was sloppy, and Roman got away." said The Shadow

"You can make up for it by getting him out, we need to find out what he knows. He could give us an insight into the movements of certain groups." said Bruce

"We already verified that the attacks have been on the same locations that Shiwan has been trying to purchase, but Roman Torchwick was a last minute change. If he's somehow involved with Khan, then he could give us the information we need on why he's after these places." said The Shadow

"For that, we need him alive and alone." said Bruce just as some cars began to move towards the back.

The Shadow observed as Roman was taken outside by two officers, Pat and Glynda Goodwitch. The Shadow narrowed his eyes at the sight. He saw how they put Roman inside a patrol car.

The Shadow followed the car through the night sky. The patrols had taken several turns and moved through streets that kept their destination a mystery. Just as they reached Main Street he noticed something was wrong with this.

A little further down the street a large lorry had broken down and the driver was looking at the motor. This forced the patrol cars to stop. Some of the officers as well as Pat and Glynda Goodwitch stepped out and went to check on what happened.

"Allow me to do the talking." said Goodwitch sternly.

"Go right ahead, although this is more my specialty." said Pat before turning to his officers. "Stay with Torchwick, don't let him out of your sight."

The officers did as Pat instructed. Pat and Glynda walked towards the lorry driver hoping to get some answers or to help at the very least.

"Excuse me, what seems to be the problem?" asked Glynda to the driver.

"Damn thing's busted. Not sure what's wrong." said the driver

"Would you mind if I move your vehicle? We are on a tight schedule," said Glynda

"I'm sorry lady, but my boss will kill me if I don't get this hunk of junk moving." replied the driver.

Pat observed the driver as the steam coming out of the motor obscuring his face. Pat looked back to where the patrol cars were and noticed how quiet the street was. Pat looked up to see some of the windows open but the curtains were down, and he could've sworn that there was some movement inside. Pat got a feeling of dread as the usually lively street was calm as a graveyard.

"Let me go get my tools, they're right here." said the driver moving to the other side of the lorry.

Just then, Pat spotted a shadow moving near one of the alleys. Pat narrowed his eyes feeling something wasn't right. Pat was about to suggest a new route but then several curtains were pulled up and the people inside the rooms began to open fire on the officers.

The lorry driver jumps back out holding a shotgun. Just as the fake driver was about to fire, Pat pushed Glynda out of the way avoiding the shot. Pat rolled and pulled out his gun and fired at the driver.

"Told you this was a bad idea." said Pat

Glynda got back on her feet and pulled out her riding crop. Glynda blocked the bullets that were coming towards them. Suddenly from the alleys came out several armed men dressed in old gangster suits and began firing some their tommy guns.

Pat got behind one of the patrol cars and tried to fire back. But it was no good, they were pinned down and their huntress was busy keeping the bullets from the windows from killing them.

Just then a large shadow casted down on the street, followed by a nightmarish cackle.

 **MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

As the laugh echoed through the street, The Shadow fired at the snipers as he fell to the street. After The Shadow took out the snipers, he drops some smoke bombs on the blinding both gangsters and police. Everyone starts to cough as the smoke covers their eyes.

The Shadow wastes no time and begins to take out the gangsters.

The Shadow grabbed a hold on one of the tommy guns and used it as a bat on one of the gangsters. He then punched another one before shooting another one in the stomach. The smoke began to fade and the remaining gangsters turned their sights on the vigilante. The Shadow kicked a tommy gun up to his hands before grabbing it and opening fire on the gangsters.

Once the gangsters were down on the ground, The Shadow jumped over the patrols towards the one Torchwick was inside.

Amidst the chaos Roman was able to crack the window of the patrol car and tried to crawl out of it.

"Going somewhere?"

Roman looked up shockingly to the source of the question. The Shadow glared at the thief before wrapping his left arm around Roman's neck and firing the grappling hook far away.

At that time Pat and Glynda came out of the smoke and saw how The Shadow flew away. And Roman dropping his bowler hat. Pat tried to shoot at the vigilante but Glynda uses her semblance to pull his gun away from Pat's hand.

Pat could only watch as The Shadow took Roman away from them in rage.

"Why did you do that?" asked Pat

"You could've hit Roman Torchwick. Remember, we need him to get answers," said Glynda giving Pat a stern look.

"Yeah, I know. But this proves what I was saying," said Pat. "Someone tipped off that Roman would be moved, if he had stayed at the station we would've been able to keep him under lock and key. But you just had to Shanghai him for your own secret huntsmen bullshit."

With a crack of her riding crop, Glynda Goodwitch made Pat hold his tongue for the briefest of moments.

"Understand this detective: We may be on the same side but if you take up that tone with me again, you'll regret it," said Goodwitch

Pat looked down almost in shame and held his tongue.

"Besides, they won't go far." said Glynda as she pulled out her scroll.

* * *

The Shadow had taken Roman to an abandoned building where he believed they would have time to talk. Roman had been thrown to the floor and the vigilante aimed his pistol at him.

"Start talking Roman. Who put you up to the attack on the Lien printing press and why? Also, while you're at it tell me who put you up to the dust robberies?" asked The Shadow

"I...I don't know! I swear!" said Roman

The Shadow saw through his lie. He fired a shot at Roman's leg.

"Lie to me again and I'll shoot you a little higher next time." said The Shadow

"Her...her...name is Cinder Fall. She's the mastermind behind everything." said Roman

"Where can I find her?" asked The Shadow

"She's at the shipyard with some White Fang grunts planning her next move, she means to infiltrate Beacon Academy." said Roman

"Why?" asked The Shadow aiming square at Roman's head.

"How should I know? I'm not that curious." said Roman trying to get some more minutes of life.

The Shadow cocked his pistol getting an 'eep' from Roman.

"I don't know!" screamed Roman in fear.

Just then a phone began ringing. This caught both The Shadow and Roman off guard. The Shadow followed the sound of the ringing until he found it coming from inside Roman's coat. He grabbed hold of the scroll and saw that the calling number was blocked but he still answered it. The Shadow got the scroll near his ear waiting for the caller to speak.

 _"Hello, Mr. Torchwick? Are you there?" asked the voice through the scroll_

The Shadow moved the scroll to Roman.

"It's for you." said The Shadow

"Um, hello." said Roman to the scroll.

 _"Hello Roman, I'm surprised to see that you're still alive. I thought by now you'd either be in custody of the huntsmen or dead, but it appears you're quite lucky. I hope that there are no harsh feelings between us." said Shiwan Khan through the scroll._

"So that's why you called me for the job. I'm your patsy, aren't I Shiwan Khan?" asked Roman in anger.

 _"I guess you do have some resentment, judging by your tone. Now if you wouldn't mind, I want to speak to the vigilante that saved your skin."_ said Shiwan making Roman's eyes to widen.

"He wants to talk to you." said Roman to The Shadow.

The Shadow placed the scroll on his ear.

"Hello, scum." said The Shadow

 _"Well then, how should I refer to you? Detective_ _perhaps? Well it doesn't matter. I am sure you have several question, as have I. But I will save you the trouble of asking, and I'll just say that you're in my way." said Shiwan_

"You attack and kill people to make a profit while playing the good guy. Why are you attacking those locations? What's the end goal?" asked The Shadow

 _"There really is not much to say, it is my destiny to rule over this kingdom. You've seen the dark underbelly that has festered under the incompetent leadership of the council and the huntsmen are completely oblivious to the problems inside the kingdoms to do anything about it. I can tell that you're trying to make the world a better place and make a difference, but your war against my empire is over." said Shiwan Khan_

Before The Shadow could do anything else the sound of several patrol sirens got his attention. The flashing lights of the cars made The Shadow realize that they had found them.

"Shadow, this is Vale PD, come out with your hands up!" called out Pat with the megaphone.

 _"It appears they have found you." said Shiwan almost mockingly._

The Shadow looked around and saw that there were many patrol cars with armed policemen. He was then able to see Pat and Glynda Goodwitch holding a megaphone.

"How did they know we were here? Did you tell them?" asked The Shadow

 _"And have our conversation interrupted? No, my paid off officers told me your location. The huntress got your location by her own means." said Shiwan_

The Shadow grabbed Roman's cuffs and snapped them open. Inside the cuffs there was a small tracker that would allow whoever had access to it to track anyone inside the kingdom.

"If you think I can't escape them, you are sorrily mistaken." said The Shadow

 _"I am well aware that you'll do that, but isn't the plan. Don't worry, I'll only break my own things." said Shiwan Khan._

At that very moment, shots were fired and some of the officers fell dead to the ground. The Shadow spotted a couple of snipers and quickly shot them with his pistols.

"If you think you've won, you got another thing coming Khan. I will stop you." said The Shadow

 _"Good luck." replied Khan before the call ended._

The Shadow removed the sim card from the scroll before throwing it away. He turned to see Roman Torchwick pick up an old table and smashing it on him. The Shadow got back up as Roman took to running.

* * *

Outside the SWAT had arrived and were preparing to go in, all weapons locked and loaded.

"Alright guys, our objectives are inside. Capture them both-" began Pat until Glynda cut in.

"Belay that order! I want Torchwick alive. Take precautions against The Shadow, but above all else take him out! Move out." ordered Glynda before SWAT moved into position.

Pat snarled at how Glynda took away his command.

* * *

Back inside The Shadow tackled Roman from the back breaking through the floor. Roman tried to get back up but The Shadow activated his pistol's taser and shocked Roman dropping him.

The Shadow slung Roman over his shoulder, but before he could move the SWAT busted in the door. The vigilante dodged the bullets before shooting at the ceiling causing the remains to fall over the team. The Shadow ran towards another room.

As the Shadow opened the door another member of the team aimed his rifle at him.

"Drop him." said the officer

The Shadow complied before firing the grappling hook directly at the officer's face. The officer dropped the rifle before The Shadow pulled him and threw him through the door.

The Shadow closed the door behind him, but he then heard a gun being cocked right next to him.

"You best put that away, if you wish to survive tonight." said The Shadow as he looked to the now armed Torchwick.

"We both know that won't be the case. You heard Shiwan, I'm his patsy. They'll shoot to kill, and even if I survive he'll make sure I go down to keep his actions secret." said Roman panting

"I'll stop him." said The Shadow

"I know, you will. Funny thing, this reminds me of this old thing I learned in the gutter. 'The world ain't gonna give ya anything. It's a mean place where you got to fight for what you want. So, if someone gets in your way, you fight'," said Roman cocking his gun. "See you on the other side."

The Shadow nods to Roman before disappearing. Roman then kicks the door and goes in shooting at the SWAT team.

As the sounds of bullets echo through the building The Shadow fled the scene with no one being the wiser.

* * *

Back at the mansion, Lamont had taken off his mask and looked frustrated for the situation. Just then Bruce walked in with a cup of coffee.

"It's been a long night. Thought you needed something." said Bruce giving Lamont the cup.

"I heard his voice grandpa, Shiwan Khan may be one of the most dangerous enemies I've faced thus far. He throws away lives like he doesn't care, all to control the kingdom." said Lamont

"Maybe, but what will you do? Will you let him win?" asked Bruce

"No. I just don't know where to start." said Lamont looking at the sim card.

"Then, endure. Let the fires and winds of adversity turn you into the bullet that'll end him." said Bruce

Lamont looked at his grandfather before gazing at the card. He held it tightly.

"Then let there be war." said Lamont with his eyes burning red.


	11. Checkmate

The loud thumping of a heart seemed to echo through the entire room. A dripping noise followed shortly after. A single light appeared on the room where a table stood. A large board of black and white squares appears as a Black Knight piece is placed on it.

"Nice move, my turn sir." said an elderly voice. "Although, you are no closer to finishing this game."

The board was a chess board and the pieces were all placed against the other. The white pieces were missing two of their pawns and one of its rooks. The black pieces were missing one of its bishops and two of its pawns. On one side of the board was an elderly man with wrinkled skin, black glasses and wore a white suit. He was playing the white pieces of the board.

"I can assure you, that I do not intend to make this game last much longer." said The Shadow on the side of the black pieces.

"You've missed some opportunities to do so, but you've wasted time and effort on keeping some pieces moving." said the man before coughing loudly.

The elderly man placed a handkerchief on his mouth before looking back to the game. The elderly man lifted his bishop piece and placed it between two black pieces. He stopped coughing and put away his handkerchief.

"Perhaps you'd like to tell me a story to make this game more interesting." said the elderly man

"If they don't mind." said The Shadow looking at the people next to them.

Tied to a group of chairs were several members of the police and different mobs, including detective Pat. All of them had bombs attached to their necks and seemed to be in no rush to have them detonate.

"Sure, don't mind us. I'd like to know how you got here." said Pat

The elderly man looked back to The Shadow.

"You may begin whenever you feel like it, sir." said the old man

The Shadow grabbed hold of one of his black pawns and proceeded with his move.

"It all started with the first explosion." said The Shadow his pawn taking another pawn.

* * *

Several blaring sirens illuminated the sight of an explosion. Officers were looking at the scene, amongst them was Pat who wasn't looking all too pleased. Before him were the charred remains of a man in the center of the explosion. Some smoke pouring off of it like a recently detonated land mine.

"What do you got for me?" said Pat to one of the officers

"We received a 911 call about ten minutes ago, when the janitor saw the smoke. We've yet to identify the victim but it appears that the explosion was meant just for him, but I'll know more once we get him back to the lab." said the CSI

"You do that, anything else?" asked Pat

"The victim's name is Marcus Do. He worked as a hired enforcer for whoever paid the most." called out a voice.

Pat and the other officer turned around to see both Lamont and Margo behind them.

"How do you guys know that?" asked Pat

"He's been working here for the last couple of months. He was reported missing two days ago." explained Lamont

"And because his ID is still on the key pad." added Margo pointing to the key pad.

Pat looked at the key pad before looking at the officers next to him.

"How did you guys missed that? Go get it," said Pat making the officers get the ID. "I swear they just left me the rookies. How did you guys get here anyway?"

Margo smiled slyly before giving a light chuckle.

"We have our ways." said Margo before writing down her notes.

"We also heard the sirens by a mile." added Lamont

"Of course, well either way you guys need to go." said Pat

"Can you at least give us a little something for the news, I noticed how you've been taking things too seriously since the death of Roman Torchwick a few days ago. That's not healthy." said Lamont

"I'll give you something when I find something before you guys. So I must repeat 'you guys need to go'." said Pat

"Sir, I think we found something." said one of the CSI

Lamont and Margo followed Pat to the center of the explosion. The CSI held a white Knight chess piece wrapped in a tissue. Pat put on a glove and grabbed hold of it noticing a letter wrapped around the piece.

"How did this thing survived the explosion?" asked Pat

"Someone must've put it on him after he exploded." said Margo getting a look at the note.

Lamont was able to read the note and said; 'I've taken your knight, you will pay for what you've done'.

* * *

The Shadow moved his remaining bishop taking a White knight piece. The hostages were sweating a little more as the game carried on.

"The death of a former enforcer put me on the trail of someone that had a grudge against him. A former victim, or someone who was pushed by him. But that was only the beginning." said The Shadow

The elderly man observed the board trying to predict his opponent's next move. He then moved his remaining rooks to take the Black Bishop.

"Yes, after all a knight isn't the one that leads. As such an enforcer is only following orders. Please continue." said the man

"I started looking into who would have it out for Do. And for that, I needed to speak with the one that got him his jobs. You all should know him as Junior." said The Shadow waiting to make his next move.

"I don't think that he greeted you very warmly. Did he?" asked the old man.

"No. He didn't." replied The Shadow before moving one of his rooks forward.

* * *

The Shadow slammed Junior's face on the bar, hard. The nightclub behind them was a mess with all of Junior's goons down on the ground with broken arms.

"I told you I have no idea where he is!" said Junior as cracks on the bar started appearing.

"I know where Marcus is. I want to know who he's worked for. You were the one that contacted him whenever there was a job open for his set of skills. A big bruiser like him must've gotten around. Talk now, or the next crack will be made by a bullet." said The Shadow

Junior tried to reach for his weapon but The Shadow grabbed him by the back of his shirt and flung him into one of the tables. Junior smashed the table he landed on before The Shadow aimed him with his pistol.

"Ok, ok, ok, I'll talk!" said Junior holding up his hands. "He used to work for these two guys, Ronny and Butch. They work on 'waste disposal', you know the getting rid of people sort of thing. Marcus worked for them a lot."

"Where can I find them?" asked The Shadow

"They have an office on North and Sideburn, near the treatment plant." said Junior

The Shadow pulled back his pistol before cracking the butt of it on Junior's face tasing him. The Shadow began walking away from the nightclub before stopping and putting a glass the right side up on the bar.

The Shadow rose up to the rooftop of a nearby building. Before he took off he heard something behind him and turned around to face it. But he found nothing. The Shadow narrowed his eyes as he felt, knew someone was with him or at least was observing him.

The Shadow jumped towards another building just as a pair of amber eyes looked at him from behind a water tower. The figure stepped out of the darkness and with the light of the moon showed itself. The figure was a woman with pale skin, amber eyes with purple eyeliner and long black hair. She wore a white shit with black pants, high heels, a corset, black arm straps and a black bow. This was Blake the secretive Faunus of team RWBY.

"Let's see if you're all you are cracked up to be, Shadow." said Blake before jumping.

* * *

"After getting the information from Junior, I made my way to Ronny and Butch's place of work where I found them missing. And their place was thrashed with some dust residues. The same ones found in the first crime scene. These two must've crap themselves because of those gifts." said The Shadow as the old man took another one of his pawns.

The elderly man laughed a little, before looking at both Ronny and Butch seriously. The game had advanced with The Shadow now having about almost all of his pieces, but the old man was getting close to putting him in check.

"Yes, that was when the officers got involved. But not because it was their duty, was it?" asked the elderly man

"That's right, I registered the hideout and found a few things that were missing and with no trace of them left. But I did find something, a card written in the exact handwriting that the first message. Your handwriting, fine but a little shaky." said The Shadow moving his Queen to take another one of the old man's Knights.

* * *

The Shadow was looking at the card, and a picture was drawn under the words. What was written on it was a clear message.

 _"You took my boy, I will take your heads. Checkmate."_

The Shadow hums as he then spots a broken picture frame with the picture inside it. The picture showed two men dressed in blue jumpsuits one of them had short black hair and fair skin and the second one was a dark skinned Faunus with wolf ears. On top of them there was a sign of a recently opened office and on the side was a young man with a shaved head wearing the same jumpsuit.

The young man was almost an exact match to the drawing that The Shadow had found.

The Shadow began looking for any signs as to where the two clean up guys had gone. The explosions did their job in spooking the criminals. But they were sloppy, some of the documents that they tried to destroy had survived. In one of those documents were the names of some police officers the three names that stood out were Officer Lucas Smith, Detective Jason O'Connell, and officer Mason Johnson.

The Shadow remembered hearing about these cops and how he once let them slip, but now they were helping criminals that used to handle dangerous chemicals and made people disappear.

"Who is hunting you two?" asked The Shadow before looking at a mirror.

Just then, The Shadow spots something reflected in the mirror. He narrows his eyes before disappearing in the shadows.

Blake jumped down trying to find where The Shadow had gone to, but she couldn't spot him.

"Where did you go?" asked Blake before going towards the mirror that The Shadow had just looked at.

Just then Blake sees The Shadow in the mirror looking at her from behind. Blake quickly turns around with her weapon in hand slashing at the back. But she's met not with the vigilante, only the empty office.

"That really scared me." said Blake

* * *

"So, you found out that the officers were dirty. What did you do then?" asked the elderly man moving one of his bishops forward.

"I searched for a comparison between the drawing and the picture. Found a name. Jeremy Stone. Your son." said The Shadow

The elderly man stopped at the mention of that name. Tears began pouring from his eyes. The Shadow offered the old man a tissue and he accepted it.

"Forgive me, but when I hear Jeremy's name I can't help myself." said the old man

The game had stopped as The Shadow allowed the old man to regain his composure. However this didn't go well with some of the captors as they could feel the bombs on their necks ticking away.

"What the hell man? I thought you were a stone cold killer! Kill this senile nut job!" called Ronny in rage.

The Shadow shot him a glare causing Ronny to fear for his very life.

"If you know what's good you better shut it." said Pat taking note of everything.

"That reminds me, how did detective Finnegan get involved in this?" asked The Shadow to the old man.

"Sadly, his case was a matter of the wrong place at the wrong time." replied the old man with some regret.

* * *

The Shadow had returned to his base to find out more on the mysterious drawing of the man and the picture. The facial recognition software gave a perfect match of the man in the picture. His name was Jeremy Stone, no criminal record but he died under mysterious circumstances. After The Shadow got the information about the mysterious man he began looking more into his story.

The Shadow's eyes widen as he sees the information about Jeremy's father, Dan Stone. Before he could set out to find out more, Pat decided to call him.

"Hello, Pat?" asked Lamont

"Lam, listen. I found something. Turns out that Marcus Do did a few jobs for these cleaners named Ronny and Butch, one of their employees decided to testify against them but he never made it to court, but he did leave some information. Turns out that some officers used to help Ronny and Butch and were about to be arrested." said Pat

"Pat, where are you? Do you have the information with you?" asked Lamont

"I'm heading to the safe house where the officers took Ronny and Butch, we've been after these corrupt cops for a while now and we're gonna get them." said Pat

"Do you have back up?" asked Lamont

"Don't worry, I know the officers and they have horrible aim plus we have their exits blocked." said Pat before hanging up.

The Shadow rushed after the call ended towards the safe house not knowing if the mastermind had set his plan in motion.

The Shadow flew through the sky with his grappling hook. The vigilante arrived at an old abandoned storage unit that dubbed as a safe house. That was where he spotted Pat's patrol car. The Shadow landed on the ground both pistols drawn and ready for anything.

The Shadow walked into the storage unit as he noticed some spots were torched by dust explosives, whoever attacked the safe house knew exactly what he was doing. Step by step he could feel his heart beating faster and faster. The Shadow looked at the light coming from the very last door.

The Shadow tackled the door down busting into the room. He spotted Pat, the three officers, Ronny and Butch all wearing explosive collars on them.

"It would seem that we have an unexpected guest." said the elderly man also known as Dan Stone.

The Shadow aimed his pistols at the old man, but didn't pull the trigger. Dan Stone held a detonator on his hand and in front of him was a chess board with all the pieces still on it.

"Mr. Stone, put down the detonator. I know what happened to your son." said The Shadow "I also know of your condition, stop this now."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that, sir." said Dan "I don't have much time left. All those years mining dust have taken their toll on me."

"You know that I could take you out with ease, right?" said The Shadow

"But you still wouldn't be able to stop me from triggering the explosives with this detonator. So I propose something else." said Dan Stone gesturing to the chess board.

"A chess match?" asked The Shadow

"I don't see why not. I am clearly no match for you physically, but perhaps in mind." said Dan as he sat down

The Shadow weighed his options, for one he didn't want to risk Pat's life but on the other hand those men had hurt a lot of people. After a few seconds of thinking, he sat down on the opposite end of the old man.

"I'll play the black pieces." said The Shadow

"Then the first move goes to me." said Dan before moving one of his pawns forward.

* * *

The Shadow placed Dan Stone's king in check.

"That's how we ended up here." said The Shadow

"Yes, it is hard to believe that it's been such a short time." said Dan coughing.

Dan tried to move his King out of the way but his shaking hand was losing strength. The Shadow noticed this but not before looking at how Ronny's hand was inching towards the detonator.

Before Ronny could grab the detonator The Shadow shot him in the hand.

"We're almost finished with the game, don't interrupt." said The Shadow putting his pistol away.

At that moment, Dan Stone collapsed. The Shadow jumped over to catch him before he landed on the floor.

"It seems that I've made my last move. I can't feel my fingers." said Dan

"Hold on a little longer. We're almost done." said The Shadow helping Dan to his seat.

"I don't think so." said Butch as he pulled his gun on them. "Looks like the only ones that are gonna walk are us."

Behind Butch were the corrupt cops holding back Pat and aiming their guns at The Shadow and Dan. The Shadow didn't budge a bit.

"Any last words, you bastard?" asked Ronny holding his bloodied hand.

"I think a certain huntress should move her ass already." said The Shadow earning some confused looks.

Then in the blink of an eye, from the dark corridor Blake shot out with both of her blades drawn. She quickly spun and sliced at the criminals, destroying their guns and freeing Pat from his captors. Blake then landed in front of The Shadow and Dan Stone.

"How did you know I was there?" asked Blake to The Shadow

"You're wearing high heels, how hasn't someone known you are following them?" asked The Shadow to Blake

The Shadow pressed a button on the detonator causing the collar on Pat to fall to the ground.

"You are under arrest on the charges of manslaughter, fraud, extortion, and most recently an attempted murder of an officer of the law." said Pat

"Oh please, we'll be out in a day or two." said Ronny unfazed by his situation.

"Yeah, we've done some jobs for a lot of powerful people. One call and you're done-" said Butch

"Then there isn't anything to talk about." said The Shadow cutting off Butch.

"Wha-" began Ronny

"I'd cover my ears if I were you." said The Shadow to Blake

Time slowed down as Blake turned around to see The Shadow pulling out his pistols. The Shadow opened fire on the two low lives, taking them out with a single shot to the head.

Pat turned around trying to stop The Shadow but he vanished into thin air, leaving Pat, Blake and the officers with a haunting laughter.

 **MWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

* * *

A short time later the corrupt cops were being taken away while Pat cursed himself for letting The Shadow get away again.

On top of a rooftop, Blake looked as Dan Stone was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Thoughts of what had transpired this night had her conflicted, but it wasn't something new for her.

"I believe it's a school night young lady," called a voice from behind Blake. "You should go back."

Blake turned around and saw The Shadow standing behind her as if nothing had happened.

"Why are you following me?" asked The Shadow

"I've heard stories about you, and I need to ask you a few questions to see if those stories are real." responded Blake

"Ask away." said The Shadow

"Why did you attack the White Fang?" asked Blake

"They were recruiting people to join their terrorist actions. But it appears that they've come back under new management. Something I'll look into very soon." replied the vigilante.

"They aren't terrorists, they are just-" began Blake

"'Misguided'?" finished The Shadow "You are not the first to say that. But tell me what else do you call, murder, theft, destruction of property, endangerment of lives, all the while spouting nonsense about their own righteousness? Also, the fact that others don't stand up and say different makes it seem like the White Fang are the voice of the Faunus. There might be some misguided people, but if they don't see what they're doing is wrong then they are no better than the terrorists."

Blake remained quiet as she knew that The Shadow had struck a nerve that she couldn't respond to.

"Why are you doing this?" asked Blake

"Because there is darkness in the world that cannot be stopped by words or simple souls. I do this because no one else can find themselves bothered to do so," said The Shadow "Think of what difference you want to make, and do it. Damn what others think."

The Shadow disappeared leaving Blake alone with her thoughts on the roof.


	12. Who's The Shadow?

Margo Lane tapped her finger angrily on her desk as she couldn't help but think that something was missing from her article. Pulp News had been on fire the last couple of weeks since more and more sightings of The Shadow had been seen. Every news outlet in the kingdom wanted to know more about him, but so far they had come up with nothing. Margo couldn't help but get annoyed at the lack of answers, and whatever information she could find was slander from people in law enforcement or the council that wanted him arrested. She had gotten her hands on some actual information, but their credibility was put into question given their age.

"Where the heck are you?" asked Margo slamming her head on her desk. "How hard is it to find information about one guy?"

"Have you tried the internet?" called a voice.

Margo looked up to see Lamont with a black eye.

"Lam, what the hell happened to you?" asked Margo before getting up and examining Lamont's face.

The black eye wasn't as bad as it looked because it was slowly disappearing thanks to Lamont's training. But that didn't dissuade Margo from checking him for any further damage. Margo would never admit it but she cared for Lamont a great deal. She had been with him through almost everything that had happened in his life, and he had tried to be with her when she needed him.

"I just slipped when I was getting out of the shower. You know, old house and all." said Lamont trying to calm her down.

"I've caught you napping at work a few times, you getting enough sleep?" asked Margo

"Yes, mom. I've just had to pull a couple of all nighters." said Lamont getting an annoyed look from Margo.

The first day they met, Lamont said that his mom was also named Margo and from time to time he calls her mom to annoy her.

"Well I've also been busy. Trying to find out more about The Shadow and whatnot. I found something that I think it might interest you," said Margo pulling out some documents.

Margo lead Lamont to his office where they could talk in private. She put down the documents on the desk and began showing them to Lamont.

"There haven't been that many pictures or sightings of The Shadow. Most of the people just say that he looks like a specter dressed to the nines, that comes and goes during the night. But I found these records that describe similar descriptions and different accounts of people like that. And here's the kicker, they all date back to when Vale still had kings some even before the foundation of the kingdoms." said Margo

"Where did you get these?" asked Lamont

"Some from libraries, others from the internet and others from disclosed locations. The times and places vary but in each of them there are depictions of a black clad being with a red scarf fighting against corruption or those that do ill to others," said Margo "But every time they are branded as criminals. Even this time, a soldier during the Great War recounts how someone fitting The Shadow's description saved his skin but the general ordered The Shadow killed by the orders of the king himself. Don't you think that's weird?"

Lamont's eyes seemed to try to hide his answer as he mumbled to himself.

"Well, it could just be a coincidence. I mean there are a lot of people wearing black in stories." said Lamont keeping himself from making eye contact.

"I thought so too but the way they appear and disappear like that is way too similar to the way The Shadow does, and that got me thinking." began Margo

"About what?" asked Lamont

"What if The Shadow is just a title that is passed down through generations like in a group or a cult. That would mean that this one is the latest in a long line of shadows," said Margo before looking at Lamont "Again just a theory. You ok?"

Lamont looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Lamont usually had that kind of reaction when she said or did something that he didn't like or agreed with, which peaked Margo's interest. What was so important for him to react like that?

"I don't think it's a good theory, maybe you should focus on something else." said Lamont coyly.

Margo only raised an eye brow at that. This wasn't normal of Lamont, he'd just down right tell her when she had a dumb idea but this time he was trying to influence her with small words.

"Listen, I gotta go now. Just please think about what I said." said Lamont before leaving.

After Lamont left the office, Margo looked back to her notes wondering if Lamont was right. Just then something caught her eye. Amidst all the papers and documents was a pretty old picture, it looked to be around forty years old. In the picture, The Shadow was fighting what appeared to be ninjas with a tommy gun but he wasn't alone. Right next to The Shadow was a young woman who had two swords.

"Wait a minute." said Margo

Margo grabbed her scroll and used the zoom function to get a better look at the old picture. Margo could swear that the woman looked familiar. Margo was then able to see who the woman was, a Faunus woman with cat ears and fair skin. She also had a golden bracelet on her right wrist that had a cat symbol on it.

Margo's eyes widen upon realization, she had seen this woman and bracelet before when she was little.

* * *

Margo had driven her car all the way to the Cranston mansion in hopes of finding something to help her. She took the time to look at the mansion since she hadn't been inside since she was little. Margo walked up to the door and pressed the doorbell.

The doorbell echoed through the mansion and the door was shortly opened.

"Margo? Wasn't expecting you here." said Bruce after opening the door.

"Hello Mr. Cranston, I was hoping to ask you a few questions for an article I've been working on." said Margo

"Of course, come in. You know you don't have to call me Mr. Cranston, call me Bruce. What article are you working on?" asked Bruce letting Margo into the mansion.

"You are still technically my boss, so I figured I'd call you like that. I'm working on a piece about the effects of The Great War on the modern day. People today just seem to think of it as an event that happened centuries ago when it is fairly recent in the aspect of time." said Margo before she got out her pen and paper.

"It does appear to be the case, and weirdly enough the kingdoms celebrate peace with a fighting tournament for whatever reason. I guess I can give you some thoughts in my study." said Bruce leading Margo to his study.

Margo sat down and began asking Bruce a few questions regarding the effects of The Great War.

"What do you think was the biggest changes that have happened since the War?" asked Margo

"I believe that the better communications between kingdoms and the huntsmen academies are the biggest changes. Back when I was around your age their numbers were fairly small and no one thought much about them. At that time, the Grimm were a threat but with some military training or knowledge of how to use a weapon you could keep them back," began Bruce "Slowly people began to treat huntsmen with more and more respect despite them barely doing anything worth while. Their presence didn't really allowed people to move to other territories. The Great War in my opinion should not be seen as an event that lead to the creation of huntsmen, but it should be looked back as a time for people to stop being afraid and not let others dictate their words as law. And that the Grimm are not what hold back society, we are."

All the while Bruce spoke, Margo put good attention to him while looking around the study for the object that she was looking for. The study had very few paintings but she was certain that she had seen the bracelet here somewhere. Then she spotted something in a small painting. The portrait was that of a very familiar woman, the one that Margo had seen in the old picture. And right next to her was none other than a younger Bruce Cranston.

"Margo? Are you alright? You seem to be deviating." said Bruce getting Margo's attention.

"Oh, sorry Mr. Cranston. I just can't seem to remember the last time I was here, and is that a new portrait?" asked Margo

"Old one, actually," said Bruce looking at the portrait. "That portrait is of me and my wife, Selina, back when we first married."

"She used to be a huntress, right?" asked Margo

"Yes, and she was amazing." replied Bruce

"Did she always have that bracelet? It looks fancy." said Margo

"A family heirloom, I believe," said Bruce "She had it before I met her."

"She used to be a huntress, wasn't she? If that was the case then she must've had a weapon or something?" asked Margo

"Yes, she was the best in her class. Even with no former training she passed with flying colors," said Bruce "I believe her weapons were twin short katanas she called Nine Lives."

This made Margo certain that her suspicions were right on the money. Margo thanked Mr. Cranston for his time and was shortly on her way.

* * *

Margo worked on her desk writing down her notes.

"So it was Lamont's grandmother the one in that picture. Could Lamont and his grandfather know about The Shadow?" asked Margo to herself. "But if that's the case, why would they be protecting him? Or could they be part of this network of agents that help The Shadow?"

Margo began thinking of all the times that Lamont had known stuff about The Shadow. He had gone away shortly after the men responsible for the death of his father and uncle were found dead. Ever since Lamont had gotten back, he had been an enigma that Margo wanted to figure out. That had almost become an obsession that she couldn't shake. She could tell that he was still hurting, but Lamont always kept a distance and focused on his work. What was she to do?

Margo kept asking those questions as she noticed that Lamont was leaving for some reason. She decided to lock up her stuff and follow him to get some answers. Even if she didn't like them.

* * *

Margo followed Lamont from a good distance, they walked and drove for miles until she noticed that he was going back to his house. She waited outside the property but no one came out.

"What am I doing?" sighed Margo hitting her head on the steering wheel. "This is Lamont who I'm thinking about. He is the last person that would become a gunslinging vigilante. Sure he does have issues with people that abuse their power and is trying to help others but he'd never do this."

Margo was just about to leave the place before she spotted a large shadow leap through the sky. She looked up and saw The Shadow flying towards the city.

"Or I could just follow The Shadow for answers." said Margo before driving after him.

Margo drove fast keeping track of The Shadow, which wasn't easy given that it was early at night and there were cars on the streets. She almost ran over a few jaywalkers that believed they were made of rubber.

"Move out of the way! I'm on a mission and no one is getting in my way!" yelled Margo at top speed.

May everyone fear a woman on a mission.

Margo narrowly dodged any and all cars that were in her way, all the while keeping an eye on The Shadow. They kept it up through different streets. Margo took a sharp after sharp turn trying to not lose sight of her target. Margo moved her eyes back to the front of the street before flooring the breaks, spinning around another car before continuing her chase.

"How the hell is he so damn fast?" asked Margo to herself.

The drive was fast and reckless but Margo was able to keep up with the vigilante. She then turned to see that they had made it to an isolated area of the docks and The Shadow looked upon the area.

Margo looked at the area and noticed something in the distance. She pulled a pair of binoculars from her glove box and looked at the docks. Margo's eyes widen when she spotted a few White Fang grunts guarding the entrance to one of the warehouses with a large bullhead airship parked outside.

The Shadow fired his grappling gun at one of the raised ship antennas and swung towards the warehouse. Margo stepped out of the car and began trailing after him.

* * *

Margo climbed and jumped over the fence, keeping to the shadows as the grunts were patrolling the area. She was curious as to how the White Fang could move into the warehouse without getting the attention of the police or at least some huntsmen given their rising infamy. Margo pressed her back to the was she was behind as one of the grunts walked towards her, but before the grunt could get to her, he was pulled from behind before being knocked unconscious.

Margo watched from the sidelines as The Shadow skipped and took out the grunts that were patrolling the area before heading towards the roof of the warehouse. She slowly tip toed towards the warehouse hoping to see what was going on. Margo found a couple crates stacked underneath a window and decided to climb them to get a better look inside.

Inside the warehouse there were several crates filled with dust being carried and moved towards the airship by the White Fang grunts.

"Move faster, we're on a schedule!" ordered a voice.

The owner of the annoying voice was a young man with grey hair, he wore a black and grey shirt, fingerless gloves that went up to his elbows, black pants and gun boots. Right next to him was a dark skinned girl with green hair and red eyes. She wore a very revealing green top, tanned pants, a gun holster belt with two green revolvers and high heels.

"Would you give it a rest Mercury. It isn't their fault that Torchwick got himself killed." said the girl to the now named Mercury.

"I don't give a damn Emerald. Now that Roman's gone, we have to take the heat because we were supposed to keep an eye on him. We were at least able to pay off the officers and huntsmen to leave us alone for the time being," began Mercury "Now Cinder is pushing her plans forward and breathing down our necks."

"She's under pressure too, you idiot. Don't worry, our plan will work," said Emerald "Besides, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind killing a few more people, that Tuckson was barely an appetizer for you."

"Enough you two." called another voice

A young woman with fair skin, amber eyes, and long black hair walked towards them. She wore a crimson dress and walked as if she easily owned the world and the air around her. Margo couldn't put her finger on it, but something about that woman pissed her off.

"Cinder." said Emerald

"Despite Roman's mistake, we still have enough power to strike at Beacon and show them all the true meaning of fear," said the now named Cinder with a clear evil smirk. "The people of this kingdom have been enjoying themselves for far to long, and that shall be the knife that we'll use to plunge into their hearts."

Margo heard every word and was awestruck with how these people could talk about murdering people like it was nothing. Just then an explosion forced her to duck and turn to see where the explosion came from. The bullhead that was being loaded with dust was now a burning wreck that blocked the entrance of the warehouse.

The White Fang grunts scattered to get their bearings. Then, it happened.

 **MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

As the laugh echoed through the warehouse, bullets flew. The lightbulbs of the warehouse were shattered, causing the terrorists to fear what could happen. Some of the White Fang grunts grabbed their guns before looking for their target.

Suddenly, in Cinder's palm appeared a small ball of fire.

"It appears that someone is trying to foolishly stop us." said Cinder with just enough smugness to make Margo roll her eyes.

"Cinder Fall, you are responsible for the White Fang activity for the last month. All the thefts, murders and crimes they've committed are on your hands." called The Shadow from the darkness.

"Forgive me if I don't care that the weak were taken out of the way." said Cinder

Margo was fuming at Cinder's words, if The Shadow doesn't kill her she will.

"Then you'll face the consequences of those words." said The Shadow

Mercury just scoffed as he thought that The Shadow actually standing a chance.

"We are the ones that you should fear! Come on out and face us like a man." said Mercury

Just then Mercury was tackled from behind onto the ground before being slammed on the side of the warehouse. The White Fang spun around aiming their guns at The Shadow. But before they could fire, The Shadow pulled out his pistols and opened fire upon the grunts. The bullets travelled through the air as the shadows of everyone inside the warehouse were casted down by the fire.

The White Fang grunts quickly fell as Mercury got back up growling at The Shadow. The Shadow turned to face the assassin. As soon as he was close The Shadow punched at Mercury but instead of actually hitting Mercury he went right through him.

The Shadow turned around thinking that something wasn't right but then he was kicked on the side by Mercury. The vigilante was unsure as to how Mercury could hold his own against him. Mercury came back up on to the fight, spinning and kicking at The Shadow. The Shadow tried to block the attacks but it appeared that all the kicks that he tried to stop where on the opposite side of the real ones.

Margo was confused, The Shadow should've put the cocky bastard down already but something was wrong. Margo then spotted Emerald smirking as she narrowed her eyes at The Shadow. A thought crossed her mind. She tore a piece of wood off of the crates and threw it directly at Emerald's head.

This caused Emerald's illusion to break down and allowed The Shadow to see what was going on.

"Looks like you're not so tough after all." said Mercury as he threw a punch.

The Shadow caught the punch and slowly began to crush Mercury's fist.

"Let's try that again." said The Shadow as his eyes glowed bright red.

The Shadow slugged Mercury straight in the face before pulling him in and kneeing him in the gut. Mercury spat blood as The Shadow punched him once more.

Emerald tried to use her semblance once more, but The Shadow was ready this time. The Shadow disappeared before the eyes of everyone.

"Where is he?" asked Emerald

"We have other problems, we have a rat." said Cinder looking at the window.

Margo ducked under and began moving out of the way, while hoping to still hear what was going on inside. She almost ran when suddenly she heard shots being fired inside the warehouse. Margo peeked in once more and saw that the girl named Emerald was blindly firing at the ceiling. But then The Shadow jumped down kicking her revolvers away before slamming her head on the hard concrete.

The Shadow then spun around dodging Mercury's sneak attack. Mercury kept on kicking and firing his weapon at the vigilante but he constantly got punched in counters. The Shadow managed to catch one of Mercury's kicks before slamming his taser pistol shattering the kneecap. Mercury cried out in pain before The Shadow shot him three times in the chest.

Margo couldn't help but cheer as The Shadow won his fight.

"You're next Cinder Fall." said The Shadow before a blast of fire came at him.

The Shadow rolled out of the way and then saw how Cinder created spears made out of fire.

"You will die for standing in my way," said Cinder "Pitiful fools like you only serve to further my ambitions, you have all this power but you just use it to kill criminals. All when you could do so much more."

Cinder fired her spears at The Shadow. The Shadow ran towards the wall of the warehouse as Cinder Fall continued to fire at him. Cinder swipped her hand downwards causing pillars of fire to sprout out of the floor. The Shadow ran up the wall before firing his grappling hook, narrowly dodging an eruption under him.

Margo saw how The Shadow's cape caught some fire and parts of his costume were charred.

The Shadow turned and began firing at Cinder Fall forcing her to jump back. He kept on firing until he landed a shot on Cinder's shoulder and scratch on her cheek. Cinder growled at this but was met with an even sharper tongue.

"It's not about power, it is about how you use it, and I use it to protect people," said The Shadow "Measuring your power with how easy it is to crush others is the lowest of the low."

Cinder only replied by hurdling a large ball of fire at The Shadow causing him to fall and break his goggles. The pyromaniac grew a sickening grin as she walked towards the downed vigilante. The Shadow slowly got back up with blood dripping down his forehead.

Margo's heart began to race as she knew The Shadow was in danger. What could she do? If her suspicions were right then she couldn't afford to sit idly by.

Cinder slowly walked with a pair of glass blades. She raised them high and was about to strike at The Shadow. But suddenly, a burning piece of wood struck Cinder from behind.

Cinder growled before turning around and saw Margo holding the piece of crate wood in her hands.

"Looks like I found the rat." said Cinder

Margo slowly backed away as Cinder tried to murder her. Cinder incinerated the piece of wood causing Margo to fall back. Cinder was ready to end Margo's life with a raised glass sword.

But before the pyromaniac could kill Margo, a loud bang echoed through the warehouse. Cinder looked down to her chest as blood began pouring out of it.

Just then another bang echoed through the ware house as another bullet passed through Cinder's head. The lifeless body of Cinder Fall fell to the ground and just like her aspirations it crashed and burnt.

Margo turned to see The Shadow back on his feet with his pistol smoking and his burning red eyes glowing.

Through all the excitement of the day Margo collapsed with a sigh, exhausted on the ground.

* * *

The next morning Margo woke up back in her apartment, almost as if nothing had happened. But she knew what she saw and it was no dream.

Margo went straight to work and to her office. She sat down on her desk and began typing away at her computer. She was almost always the first one to arrive at the office so she was pretty much alone. Just then a tap on her desk pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Morning." said Lamont

"Morning," replied Margo "You are up early."

"I also work here." said Lamont

"No, I'm saying it because after that onslaught the other night, I thought you'd stay in bed." said Margo while moving her hand to cover part of Lamont's face. "There's just something about those eyes that made it click."

Lamont's eyes widen in slight shock, he hoped that in the confusion Margo wouldn't have recognized him.

"What are you gonna do about it?" asked Lamont

"First off, I'm gonna delete all my research and then lock away any documents. To make sure no one can make the same connection," said Margo typing.

Lamont smiled and gave Margo a piece of paper.

"Thanks Margo, and don't worry. It's been taken care of." said Lamont

"By who?" asked Margo

"You were right when you said that there have been other Shadows," said Lamont "One in particular is pretty good at covering tracks. You know this changes everything, right?"

"What you do may be extreme but the city does need someone to protect it. Even if that means breaking the law." said Margo

Lamont offered Margo his hand. She looked at it but then smiled and took it happily.

"Welcome to the team." said Lamont with a smile as the sun rose.


	13. Like a Moth to a RWBY

It was a dark night in the kingdom of Vale and the activity on the streets was almost none existent. The flickering lights of the street were the only thing that kept the few drunk people that were still about from crashing into something. Just then a middle aged man wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase walked through the neighborhood grumbling under his breath.

"Why did I have to listen to the guys? They know I don't drink." said the man as he passed the lights of the street.

Every step the man took was charged with resentment towards his colleges as they had left him with the bill after claiming to go to the bathroom. Of course the man was a bit of a cheapskate but still it was a rotten move to be sure. However his fate could not be wished upon another soul even if it was an enemy.

The wind suddenly picked up sending some papers flying and forced the man to cover his face in defense. The man looked around to notice that the street was utterly silent, more so than a grave. The man began sweating slightly when a lightbulb shattered behind him. The man shrieked before rushing away from the scene.

The man rushed down the street feeling as though there was something following him from the darkness. Barefoot steps echoed from behind causing the man to sweat even more and rush to get away.

The man's heartbeat rose the closer the footsteps got to him. Fear and adrenaline filled the man's body until he tripped and fell to the floor. The man quickly got back up only to notice that there were no more footstep noises.

The poor man was drenched in sweat, which shun under the light of the street lamp. Whatever seemed to be after him could still be out there.

The man grabbed his briefcase and held it close to his chest in defense. He turned around and was about to turn the corner when someone bumped into him.

The man looked up to see an old homeless man wearing a brown jacket and a black shirt. He also had a short grey beard and some dirty hairs on his head covered by a red beanie.

"Are you alright, sir?" asked the old man with a British accent.

The man looked around thinking that the homeless man was the one following him.

"Yes, I'm fine just a little spooked. Good night." said the man before walking away.

The homeless man watched as he walked away, but just as he was far enough from the other man a large shadow came down upon him. The homeless man fell down as a dark creature then flew deep into the night, leaving only the man's briefcase behind.

* * *

The next day had come and Margo was currently looking at some of the things that Lamont had been working on. More specifically, what The Shadow was working on.

"You've been busy with this. What do you do in your free time?" asked Margo as she looked at some of the papers.

"I work, or sleep." said Lamont giving Margo a cup of coffee.

"Charming. Who is trying to blow up these places?" asked Margo holding the list of locations.

"That would be Shiwan Khan. For some reason he has purchased several of these locations. I know that they have some stuff in common. They are all well built, capable of working as mini fortresses, they are all connected to Vale in one way or another, and they are all connected not just in the map but also in the sewers." said Lamont

"But why does he want them?" asked Margo "I'm sure there are other places that fit that criteria."

"There must be something else then." said Lamont

Just then they got a message on their scrolls. Lamont turned on the news and saw none other than Lisa Lavender standing on the street.

 _"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, Lisa Lavender here," said Lisa "In the last couple of weeks there have been a series of disappearances of several people. At first it was only homeless people and runaways but it has then affected better off people of society, and up until now no one has claimed responsibility. However, I have here with me an eye witness as to who is the one behind these missing people."_

The camera zoomed back to show the old homeless man from the prior night.

 _"Now sir, could you please describe what you saw last night?" asked Lisa_

 _"It was the middle of the night, and I saw this massive shadow come down upon thee poor soul. Now I'm not sure what it was but it was completely black and its eyes were bright red. Then it disappeared taking the man with him in a blink of an eye." recalled the homeless man._

 _"There you have it, viewers. It appears that the one responsible for the missing persons could be none other than the vigilante The Shadow. Most of the Council as well as Beacon's headmaster have called for his arrest. The police have put out an all hands on deck search for the vigilante with any and all necessary force." said Lisa Lavender before Margo turned off the video._

Margo looked at Lamont with an inquisitive look.

"You wouldn't happen to have an alibi for her accusation, would you?" asked Margo

"I do actually," said Lamont before showing Margo a report on a bank robbery. "Bank robbery on Ying and Allard boulevard. Besides, if I wanted to grab someone off the street no one would've seen me doing it."

"Then someone is framing you, and it'll get ugly from here on." said Margo

"Yeah, all that's left is a wanted poster." said Lamont jokingly.

* * *

At Beacon Academy at that moment, a certain team of huntresses had just seen the same news reel. The team in question was none other than team RWBY. Each of the girls had been face to face with the vigilante at some point and they all had their own views on who he is and what should be done about him.

"Why is the Shadow doing this?" asked Ruby

"He's obviously up to no good. Ever since he first appeared he has been leaving corpses left and right. Someone has to do something." said Weiss

"Don't you think it's a bit odd? Why do this now?" asked Yang "He used to go after criminals and now civilians? What changed?"

"Maybe he finally lost it," said Weiss "You two did say that he seemed unstably dangerous."

"Still, we have to do something. We've all seen what he's capable of, so we have to stop him." said Ruby believing it was the best course.

Ruby had only seen The Shadow once and she believed that he was cool. But she didn't approve of his methods.

"I completely agree with you Ruby," said Weiss "This vigilante has finally revealed his true colors and must be taken down in the name of the law."

Weiss was clearly not at all for The Shadow's actions. He took the law in his own hands and cared not for what happened. Weiss was not going to let someone like that just run around freely.

"This is getting completely out of hand." said Blake narrowing her eyes.

Ever since her discussion with The Shadow she wanted to show him that she was capable of making a difference and that his way was wrong. Blake wouldn't admit it but she held the vigilante in good regards even if she didn't agree with his black and white view of the world.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in taking it easy. Let's go find ourselves a shadow." said Yang while holding back a worried look.

* * *

Back at Cranston Manor, Lamont had taken Margo to speak with Bruce. But she was focused on something else entirely.

"Oh my god look at this place!" said Margo looking at the secret basement cave where Lamont and Bruce worked on. "I can't believe that this place was right under my nose when I was a kid."

"We try to keep it secret for a reason." said Bruce looking at Lamont.

Lamont rolled his eyes. The conversation they had about letting Margo in on their secret was pretty divided at first, but once Lamont told Bruce about the fight with the terrorists he decided to give her a chance to prove herself.

"As much as we'd like to give you the tour, but we have work to do." said Lamont

"Right, we know that the disappearances started with homeless people, but then it started going for more well kept members of society." said Bruce

"Which means that they need people to be fit or at least in better condition." added Lamont

Margo looked through the different reports to see if there was any form of pattern of the abductions. The places where the abductions had supposedly happened were no good, the best thing they could guess was that whatever was causing the disappearances was fast and could move through the night with ease.

"So any ideas, suggestions or anything?" asked Margo

Lamont went for his suit.

"A patrol around the city should give me something to work with." said Lamont as he grabbed his suit.

"Quick question," began Margo "Do you need help putting that on?"

* * *

The Shadow flew through the night sky towards the place where the news report was that morning. If there was a chance that it could help, he needed to see if the police missed something.

The Shadow dropped down from the rooftops to the street. Illuminated by only the street lamp above him, The Shadow kneeled down to the place where the homeless man last saw the latest disappeared victim.

The Shadow looked at the scene and then grazed the floor with his hand and noticed something odd about the floor. There were some scratches on the pavement, a little too well defined to be from a cat or a dog. Right next to the marks there were some hairs, probably from the victim but they seemed a little too unkept, almost like a wild animal's.

The Shadow grabbed a small plastic bag and dropped the hairs inside it before getting back up.

"Something's afoot." said The Shadow looking at the bag.

The sound of a siren caught the vigilante's attention causing him to fire his grappling hook and fly high into the air back to a nearby roof top. The Shadow looked down at the street and noticed a much larger police presence on the streets than usual. He turned around ready to go some place else to find more clues.

Just then The Shadow heard the flutter of a wing and a shadow passed before him. The vigilante looked up and saw something flying through the night sky. The moon casted the silhouette of a strange creature. The only thing that The Shadow could see were its glowing red eyes.

"Looks like I found my imitator." said The Shadow before tailing after it.

The Shadow chased after the strange creature, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. The creature seemed to have a pair of insect like winds that kept fluttering at great speed. Its dark body and constant movement kept The Shadow from getting a good look on it but he'd get his chance.

The creature dropped down towards a dark street with The Shadow following right behind it. Down on the street, there was a young couple walking out of the movies having a good laugh.

"That was a good movie, wasn't it?" asked the woman

"Yeah, but you were the real star of the whole thing." said the man as he wrapped his arm around her.

The couple began to laugh, but their happiness didn't last.

The large unknown creature landed down before the couple and then stood upright. The creature was a tall grayish being with a thick coat of fur around its neck, large red eyes, furry antennas, a large pair of moth wings wrapped around it like a cloak. The creature stared at the couple before unwrapping its wings and show off its claws and talons. The woman screamed as the creature jumped at the couple.

Time slowed down as the mothman's red glowing eyes got closer to the couple, but then The Shadow jumped into the fray. The Shadow tackled the creature away from the couple with force. The couple run away screaming, not wanting to see what could come to pass.

The Shadow rolled over and threw the monster away before pulling out his pistols. The Mothman got back on its feet but then crouched down and snarled angrily at the vigilante.

"Your nights of terror are over monster." said The Shadow

The moth monster jumped forward. The Shadow dodged the attack before opening fire upon the creature as it jumped and crawled through the street. The mothman jumped at the Shadow forcing him to roll out of the way. The vigilante turned and shot its leg. Blood splattered on the floor as The Shadow regained his footing.

The moth monster screeched in pain before extending its wings and flying away from The Shadow. The Shadow fired at the monster managing to land a few hits but the moth managed to fly high.

"You won't escape." said The Shadow

The vigilante tried to follow the monster but he was cut off by a sniper round cutting him off. The Shadow turned around to see something that he wasn't expecting. Before him was none other than team RWBY with its leader Ruby Rose aiming at him with her weapon.

"Stop right there vigilante." said Ruby Rose sternly.

"You are under arrest by the authority of team RWBY." said Weiss holding out her rapier.

"Come quietly, this doesn't have to become a fight." said Blake

"Unless you want to resist. In which case, we'll kick your ass." said Yang cocking her gauntlets.

The four girls held their ground as they waited their enemy's response. His answer?

"You have got to be kidding me." replied The Shadow with an unimpressed tone.

The Shadow wasted no time and took off after the moth creature.

"Hey, get back here!" called out Ruby as she and her team went after him.

The Shadow flew through the air with his grappling hook until he reached the roof top and narrowly missing a bullet. The team of huntresses were hot on his heels as he ran after the giant moth. Team RWBY split up with Yang and Blake jumping to the rooftop, using their weapons to make it, and Ruby and Wiess staying on the streets to cut him off.

The Shadow jumped over to the next building, taking back glances of the blond and brunette chasing after him. Yang fired a couple of her shotgun rounds. The Shadow ducked under one of the rounds and then spun in the air dodging the second one. Just then Blake threw her weapon in a kusarigama mode which wrapped itself on the vigilante's leg. The ninja member of team RWBY pulled her ribbon along with The Shadow. The Shadow landed on the floor just as Ruby and Weiss got on the roof.

"Don't move, you're surrounded." said Weiss

"Looks like the famous vigilante wasn't so tough after all." said Yang

"What the hell is wrong with you!? You four are letting the real criminal get away!" called out The Shadow making the girls take a step back.

"You're the real criminal, and you won't hurt anyone else." said Ruby aiming her rifle at the vigilante.

"Think for a second, why would I take all those people? I don't do that." said The Shadow

"The police and the council don't care. You are a menace and must be taken as such." said Weiss

Just then a series of police sirens surrounded the building with Pat being amongst the group.

"Shadow, this is the police! You're surrounded!" called out Pat with a megaphone

The Shadow grabbed hold of the ribbon and pulled it and Blake onto Ruby and Weiss. Yang jumped in to start a fight but The Shadow ducked under her haymaker and punched her on the stomach. The rest of the team got back up and began firing at the vigilante. The Shadow rolled out of the way being grazed by a small piece of ice. He pulled out his pistols and fired at their feet making them split up.

Blake was the first one to attack with both her sword and her cleaver. The Shadow blocked the attacks with his pistols before rolling back and kicking her off of him. Weiss attacked sending a blast of ice dust swords towards the vigilante. The Shadow fired at the swords with intensity, but Weiss used this to her advantage and attack with her rapier. The vigilante moved to the side, getting nicked on the side of his torso. Weiss smirked at the thought of landing a hit on the vigilante, but it didn't last. The Shadow kicked Weiss' rapier high into the air causing her to gasp and for the vigilante to shock her with his taser. Weiss fell down but then a call brought The Shadow's attention.

"Bumblebee!"

The Shadow turned to see both the blond brawler and the Faunus ninja charging at him. With a battle cry they attacked the vigilante. The Shadow used his smoke bombs and blinded his attackers. One of Yang's fire rounds flew through the smoke as she and Blake kept trying to spot the vigilante. The Shadow used this to his advantage and slipped out of the roof top.

"Where the hell is he!?" demanded Yang as she kept firing.

As the smoke began to dissipate, Pat and the police officers kicked down the door.

"Hold it you're-" began Pat before ducking under a fire ball. "...arrest."

Team RWBY stopped their attacks when Pat gave them a dirty look.

"Evening officers." said Ruby with her best innocent face.

Pat only responded with a pair of hand cuffs.

* * *

Lamont returned to the mansion and began looking over the samples that he recovered.

"Were you really attacked by color coded girls?" asked Margo as she talked over the phone.

"Yep, but they didn't get me." replied Lamont as Margo chuckled to herself. "Not funny."

"I'm sorry, I'll go to work," said Margo "You rest up."

"I'll be out soon," said Lamont "Don't worry."

Lamont let out a sigh as he continued to look at the samples, as Bruce walked over with a bandage.

"Find anything?" asked Bruce

"It looks like the samples aren't just hair," said Lamont "They're also part of chitin. This means that the creature is some sort of insect. A mutated moth by the looks of it."

"The appearance and red eyes must've made it look like The Shadow," said Bruce "Now we just got to find out why it's kidnapping people."

"Last night I lost it near Smith and Weston," said Lamont "It must be hiding around those parts."

"Speaking of which," said Bruce "How do you think the huntresses are doing with the detective?"

"Knowing Pat, he's probably chewing them out right about now." said Lamont holding back a smile.

* * *

Pat slammed the papers on the table. Pat wasn't a happy man, not only had he missed The Shadow completely but he had almost gotten his head shot by a fire shotgun blast.

"Now ladies, care to explain to me; what the hell were you thinking?" asked Pat to the arrested team of huntresses.

"We were trying to do the right thing." replied Ruby

"Yeah, we had him cornered until you showed up." said Yang in their defense.

"And I suppose that getting my head blown off was part of your plan?" asked Pat

"Well, no that was-" began Yang

"I don't care what you think you were doing!" said Pat "You don't just go into town shooting left and right as if you owned the place!"

The team held their tongues in shame.

"I don't know what they're teaching you girls in that fancy shmancy academy of yours, but you don't turn an area near downtown Vale into the Wild West!" said Pat "Now your school has been notified and will hopefully keep you from doing this again."

After Pat finished saying those words, team RWBY were released given that they didn't commit any serious offenses. After team RWBY recovered their weapons they walked out to the street thinking of what to do next.

"What now?" asked Yang

"We can't just let this stand. The Shadow is a menace and the police aren't able to catch him." said Weiss rubbing her neck.

"But detective Finnegan said that we are to stay off the case or else we'll be arrested." said Ruby

"He's just doing his job and he isn't wrong," said Blake "We also have to consider that The Shadow was actually chasing someone."

"You're not defending him, are you?" asked Yang

"No, but he tends to be less in the business of taking prisoners and more into-" began Blake

"Putting people in the ground." finished Yang

"Yes, why do something like this?" asked Blake

"Maybe we can ask him when we see him next?" suggested Ruby earning an eyebrow from her team. "What?"

"Let's just keep our eyes open, just in case." said Weiss

At that moment Weiss was lifted high into the night sky by the moth monster, right out of the blue. The creature flew high into the night as Ruby, Blake and Yang screamed Weiss' name.

"WEISS!" screamed RBY

* * *

The Shadow had gotten back on the streets in search of the moth monster's hide out. He had searched several of the buildings in the center but none of the places looked like they could house a moth creature. Most of the buildings were in use and only a handful were empty. Just as The Shadow was about to move to another building he heard a loud scream, one that he recognized. He spotted a moth creature flying towards a nearby building while carrying Weiss Schnee herself.

The Shadow fired his grappling hook keeping track of them. Just as the moth monster was about to enter one of the abandoned buildings, The Shadow dropped on top of it and kicked the monster inside and releasing Weiss.

Weiss rolled on the ground as The Shadow kept fighting the moth monster. She got back up and saw The Shadow punching her wound-be kidnapper in the face before kicking it in the face. The moth monster fell to the floor just as Weiss pulled out her rapier and scroll.

"Don't move!" said Weiss calling her team.

"Is that how you thank people that save you?" asked The Shadow before kneeling to examine the creature.

As that moment, the rest of team RWBY burst into the room through a door.

"Weiss!" said Ruby hugging her partner. "I was so worried when The Shadow took you!"

"Shut up you dolt, you're embarrassing me!" said Weiss struggling in the hug.

Yang and Blake looked at where the vigilante was and gasped at the strange creature lying down on the ground.

"What the heck is that?" asked Yang

"It looks like a Grimm." said Blake aiming her weapon at it.

"It isn't," replied The Shadow "There are probably more than just one of these things."

Team RWBY was slightly confused by this claim, but they still kept their eyes on him and the moth.

"Why do you think that?" asked Blake

The Shadow turned to face the team of huntresses causing them to take a step back.

"Before you, so rudely attacked me, I was fighting a creature such as this one," said The Shadow "I managed to wound it in its left leg and a splat of blood fell to the ground. But this one? It doesn't have a wound, not even scarring. Which means that either this thing has some crazy healing abilities or...there's more than one."

"What a load of-" began Weiss before being cut off by the moth monster roaring back to its feet.

The Shadow jumped back as the moth swiped at him. The girls began to open fire at the monster, but the moth quickly flew away from their attacks. The Shadow pulled out one of his pistols and shot the moth on the shoulder, nicking a wing. The moth man fled towards one of the holes on the ceiling.

The Shadow wasted no time and took off after it.

"Hey, wait up!" said Yang as she and her team chased after him.

* * *

The Shadow jumped out of the hole. Before the vigilante was a swarm of moths flying around a large source of light. The creatures were just swarming and flying around on top of a makeshift laboratory operated by one man.

The Shadow used his stealth to approach the lab and as he did he recognized the man working on the operating table. It was none other than Monstradamus, the mad scientist and creator of monsters.

"No please, don't do this," begged a man strapped to an operating table.

"Now, now, young man. You should be happy after all, you'll be part of a grand family that'll take over this whole wretched kingdom." said Monstradamus

"Why are you doing this?" asked the man

"Well you see, when I was foiled in getting my deserved revenge something new took place in my head. All these laws, councils, huntsmen and kingdoms are all holding back the inevitable. This world is doomed to entropy and only those of us that accept that will be able to survive, shuffling off this mortal coil." explained Monstradamus "Of course the serum is still not as strong as I'd hope but there is always next time. The great light is dosed with a bit of the serum that has turned them into my creations, thus keeping them as such."

The Shadow aimed his gun at the mad scientist and was about to pull the trigger, but then team RWBY appeared from behind.

"Oh my god! What is this place!?" asked Yang causing everyone to turn towards them.

The Shadow face-palmed himself at the huntresses' poorly timed arrival.

"We've been discovered!" called out Monstradamus "Destroy them my pets!"

All the moth men turned their gaze at the team of huntresses and charged at them. The huntresses began to attack the moths but they were slowly being overrun by them. The Shadow made a judgement call and went to save them, allowing Monstradamus to escape. With a chilling laugh The Shadow jumped in with his pistols in hand.

 **MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA** **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

The Shadow jumped in to save team RWBY, but instead of taking out the moth men, he aimed his shots at their limbs and wings preventing them from moving.

"Do not kill them," ordered the vigilante as he threw one of the moth men into the wall.

"Why should we listen to you?" asked Weiss as she summoned a glyph to block an attack.

"Because they are the missing people, Monstradamus turned them into these things." said The Shadow

"What?" asked Blake as she dodged an attack.

"How do we turn them back?" asked Ruby before slamming down her scythe and spin kicking two moth men.

The Shadow slammed one of the tasers on the forehead of one of the moth men before elbowing another one in the face. The vigilante noticed that several of the downed moth men were crawling at the large lightbulb. Monstradamus' words echoed in The Shadow's mind as an idea came to him.

"Destroy the lightbulb!" ordered The Shadow

"Why should we trust you? Do you really think that will work?" asked Weiss

"I don't 'think', I know!" replied The Shadow

Ruby looked down, unsure if she should trust the vigilante. She then saw how one of the moths turned back into a human with only some minor wounds. If the Shadow was right then it could solve their problems.

"Take it out!" called Ruby as she aimed her rifle at the lightbulb.

The rest of team RWBY followed suit along with The Shadow and then opened fire at the lightbulb.

The glass shattered and the light disappeared casting the entire room in darkness. The red eyes of the remaining moth men began to disappear as they screeched in pain. After a whole minute the room feel silent and team RWBY turned on the lights of their scrolls to see what had happened. Before them was The Shadow and scattered on the floor were the missing people from the news.

"Thank you for your assistance." said The Shadow

"Wait, don't think this makes us buddies. We're bringing you in." said Ruby

"These people need medical attention, and Monstradamus has escaped. It would be a waste to lock me up," said The Shadow "Besides you don't have much of a choice."

Right before their eyes The Shadow disappeared. Team RWBY was left awestruck as police sirens were heard coming closer to their location.

* * *

The next day, Team RWBY was reading a news article from Pulp News about the incident in a coffee shop. The title read 'Missing people found, The Shadow and huntresses working together'.

"It's so infuriating," said Weiss

"At least the people were rescued and taken for treatment," said Yang

"Besides, we were actually congratulated by the police this time," added Ruby

"We did something good, now all we have to do is keep doing it," said Blake

"And who knows, maybe we will meet The Shadow with a little more fist to face," said Yang throwing a punch

"Yeah," said Ruby cheerfully.

Unbeknownst to them, Lamont and Margo were right next to them hearing their conversation.

"Looks like you'll be busy. Still don't get why you gave them some of the spotlight." said Margo

"I think it's best I stay on their good side," said Lamont

"How sweet." said Margo


	14. All that Glitters

The sun had begun to rise as Lamont was helping Bruce move some boxes out of the basement to the attic. It wasn't anything important but they still needed to move them. Inside the boxes was mostly some damaged equipment that they couldn't fix and some old clothes to give to charity.

"We should really do this more often grandpa," said Lamont lifting another box. "We are bordering on hoarder territory."

"It is one of the things that I don't like about a normal life, but it must be done." replied Bruce

Lamont held up another box but it was much heavier than he expected. This caused Lamont to drop the box and spill some of the contents onto the floor.

"Damn it." said Lamont before kneeling and begin picking up the contents.

Lamont put back an old pair of sneakers, some old shirts and a prototype of shock gauntlets. As he was doing so, he came across something that he had forgotten about. Before Lamont was a 26 inch long golden flute with engravings of dragons and fairies and a dragon's mouth at one end.

Lamont didn't say a word as he picked it up and began examining it with much care. He traced the engravings with his thumb as he began to remember where he got this musical instrument.

"Pan's Harmony," said Bruce catching Lamont's attention. "If I remember correctly."

"Yes, hard to believe it's been 8 years since that day," said Lamont holding the flute tightly. "The day of my first case."

Lamont's eyes turned red as he remembered that time.

* * *

8 years ago...

A city somewhere near Vacuo...

A young 17 year old Lamont was walking along with Bruce through the city streets wearing a black cloak. They had traveled to this city in order to fulfill the next step of Lamont's training, but what was going to be the test was yet to be seen. The city was completely rural with houses and buildings were made out of rocks and wood, people were talking and going about their daily business.

"What do we do now?" asked Lamont

"We're looking into some disappearances and strange murders that have been happening in this area," said Bruce "You must find the one responsible and stop him."

"Most kids get a car when they turn 17 or think about college," said Lamont "But I have to stop a murderer. Sounds like much fun."

Lamont and Bruce kept walking through the streets until they reached an old house where they would be setting up shop.

Lamont took to the streets as he tried to find some clues as to the murders. He walked through several streets and spoke to some people about the murders but no solid leads. The people didn't look twice at him all day long. Just then Lamont began hearing flute music nearby. He walked following the music until he found its source.

On a street corner there was a man playing a golden flute with the head of a dragon. The man playing the flute wore a long yellow shirt, a green vest, a pair of brown pants and shoes. In front of him was a tall brown top hat where there was some money inside it. He continued to play a cheerful tune which attracted people to listen and give him some coins. Lamont enjoyed the sound of the music, it appeared to make him forget the troubles around him. The usual stress seemed to turn into something far more cheerful as a smile appeared on Lamont's face.

The song ended and the people around the flute player clapped and gave him some coins and Liens.

"Thank you, thank you everyone! You're a great audience." said the flute player.

Shortly afterwards the small audience save for Lamont had left. The player picked up the top hat, but just as he began to count the money he had made trouble arrived. Three men arrived wearing some ragged suits and they each held lead pipes, Lamont saw them as clear enforcers.

"Hey Jimmy, good day today?" asked the goon in the middle.

"Come on guys, I already paid this month. I'm not bothering anyone." said Jimmy

"Yeah, but you see, the boss don't like it when some slump rat like yourself looks at his girls. You need to know your place." said the man pushing Jimmy to the floor.

Lamont tightened his fists and readied himself to fight them.

"I can give you half of what I've got, please. I never meant to disrespect Don Ortega." said Jimmy

"Don't worry Pifferaio, we'll only break one leg." said the man lifting the pipe.

Lamont caught the pipe and kicked the man in the back of his knee breaking it. The man screamed in pain as the other two goons turned around but they only see one person standing there. The other two thugs attacked Lamont but he blocked their attacks with his pipe. Lamont stepped back as he tried to keep them at bay but he could only do so much.

Lamont punched one of the thugs before kicking the other one in the chest. The downed thug slowly got back up only to receive a pipe to the face. The other two thugs got back up sluggishly and tried to pounce on the young vigilante. They managed to grab hold of Lamont, they put all their weight to keep him down. Lamont's eyes glowed red and glared at the two. The thugs saw that they no longer held on to a man but instead a vicious creature from the depths of their nightmares. They let go of Lamont, which gave him the opening that he needed to kick the pipe back to his hands and swung it at the thugs.

They fell to the ground unconscious as Lamont threw the pipe out of their reach.

"You alright?" asked Lamont offering the player a hand.

"Yes, thank you sir. Jimmy Pifferaio, at your services." said Jimmy

"Lamont Cranston, at yours. Is this normal?" asked Lamont looking at the downed thugs.

"Sadly, yes," said Jimmy "No patrons of the arts to protect us. You don't look like the usual tourist."

"Just passing by," said Lamont "I've heard about some strange things happening, murders, mysterious ones. Heard something about that?"

The flute player didn't say anything and avoided Lamont's gaze.

"No, I'm afraid I don't." said Jimmy "I gotta go before the boss sends someone else."

The flute player left, leaving Lamont a sense that he was hiding something. However, something was clear, he was a hopeless musical romantic but the world just wasn't fair. He had some talent but not many appreciated it.

Lamont went on his way to get a better feel of the city before the night patrol.

* * *

The night came early and Lamont had gotten geared up with a makeshift suit. His nose and mouth were covered with a red scarf, he had a black shirt under a bullet proofed vest, black pants, combat shoes, gloves and a pair of pistols ready to fight.

Lamont jumped from rooftop to rooftop, passing through the steam that came out of some chimneys. All the murders had been found on the outskirts of the city, all of them had been members of the gangs that ran the city. They appeared to be suicides but they all were not in a position where they would do such a thing. Lamont could get some answers from the gang and if not he could always take them out.

Lamont looked down to see a gang sitting around a fire counting their ill gotten loot. Lamont's eyes narrowed before reaching his pistols.

"So I asked him; 'What do you call a hot red woman?' And then he answered 'sunburned'." said one of the thugs causing everyone else to laugh.

Once the laughs died down a voice asked a question.

"Have any of you guys heard about the weird deaths?"

"No one knows. Most of the guys had a problem with the Boss. I think they crossed him some way or another." said one of the thugs

"Where can I find the Boss?"

"In his house dumbass, the big house at the outskirts of the city." the thug looked up looking to see who asked the question but he didn't find the source. "Who asked that?"

The rest of the thugs looked at each other but none took responsibility of it.

"Weird." said the thug

Lamont meanwhile ran towards the house hoping to get some needed answers.

Finding the house of Don Ortega aka the Boss was easy enough. The large white house surrounded by an electric fence was being guarded by several armed guards. Lamont looked down to see that there were cameras all over the place, he would have to avoid them as he hadn't mastered his skills to such a degree. He was just about to go into the house, but then he spotted Jimmy walking into the house with some guards.

"Jimmy?" asked Lamont "What are you doing here?"

Lamont decided to use this chance to go into the guarded house. He dropped down and while using his hypnosis he went past the guards while trying to avoid the cameras.

Lamont was nothing more than a shadow on the wall as he followed the flute player and the thugs as they moved into the house. The interior of the house was filled with paintings of many things and pieces of art. This man of the house was clearly wealthy but not all of his money could be from honest sources. The man in charge was right before the group of men.

Don Ortega was a middle aged man with tanned skin, a handle bar mustache, a golden chain necklace and wore a white suit and a pair of black shoes. The Don was sitting on a large chair and side by side were a pair of women. On his right was a woman around thirty years of age, she had long black hair that reached her back, tanned skin and had a red dress that showed her youthful body and a pair of red high heels. And on his left was a younger woman, she also had tanned skin, short black hair, red eyes, and wore a white dress similar to the one the woman on the right.

"Ah Jimmy," said Don Ortega getting up from his chair. "So good for you to come."

"Hello Don Ortega," began Jimmy holding onto his flute tightly.

Ortega noticed this and gave him a confused look.

"What's the matter?" asked Ortega "Why are you shaking? Aren't we friends?"

"Sorry, Don Ortega," said Jimmy "It's just that, your men tried to break one of my legs. I thought that you were angry."

"What? A simple misunderstanding, I think that my associates misunderstood my instructions," said Ortega "You are a valuable member of my organization."

Ortega placed a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. He began leading Jimmy clearly giving him a sense of ease.

"You have a strong sense of music, you have a gift," said Ortega "You do a few more jobs for me and you can get anything that you want."

Jimmy looked to the young woman but she didn't met his gaze.

"Anything?" asked Jimmy

"Anything, within reason," said Ortega "Now, Antonio will take you to your next job. Make it look like it was an accident."

Jimmy nodded his head and was then taken away with the same men that brought him in.

Lamont stayed behind, hoping to get some more information. Don Ortega began laughing as he turned to the two women.

"You are just cruel, you know that father?" asked the young woman

"I must agree with Dulcinea, my love," said the older woman. "You are playing with fire. But I am sure that you are more than ready for it."

"Come on Calypso, you two worry too much, besides what am I doing?" asked Ortega as he poured himself a drink. "I am merely helping a starving artist to make due. He helps me in my business and I help him. So what if I put an unreachable carrot in front of him?"

Ortega kept laughing as Dulcinea left the room angry.

"That girl." said Calypso annoyed.

Back in the shadows, Lamont took this chance to leave and help stop Jimmy from making a mistake.

* * *

Lamont rushed through the rooftops keeping an eye on Jimmy and the six thugs. Jimmy and the thugs went on to their job, a simple snatch and that was it.

They arrived at a textile plant where people were working on making rugs or at least that was what it appeared. Men wearing yellow hazmat suits and masks were bagging chemicals in special plastic bags and then putting them inside rolled up carpets.

The men were in the middle of loading up another rug onto the truck when suddenly a soothing flute music began to echo through the room.

Everyone was stopped on their tracks. They were frozen as if time had been hit on pause.

Just then Jimmy walked into the plant playing the flute as a lime green aura surrounded him and his flute. He moved as if he were in a painting and continued to play the flute. A full minute passed until Jimmy finished playing the melody, making the people in hazmats fall to the ground. Just then the thugs that came with him stepped into the plant and began gathering all the rugs and chemicals into the trucks.

"I gotta say Jimmy, you should ditch the music business and do this full time." said one of the thugs.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this sort of thing," replied Jimmy "Besides, Don Ortega wants to keep the city clean."

"Yeah, we have to keep the damn Atlas elitists away from their drugs that are killing out people," said another thug holding back a laugh.

Just then a shot echoed through the plant as one of the thugs fell down to the ground. Everyone looked around but nothing seemed to appear.

"What the?" asked Jimmy scared

Just then another of the thugs was pulled away from behind. Everyone turned and began to open fire on the area, but all they saw was a man's shadow running away. Jimmy hid behind the thugs as the Shadow man rolled over one of the tables before flipping it for defense.

The four remaining thugs slowly moved towards the flipped table, spreading around the table hoping to get the shadow man. Just then a bullet shattered the light above the thugs causing them to flinch. The sudden darkness allowed Lamont to jump out and fire upon the thugs.

With deadly accuracy, the light of the gunshots illuminated the red scarf and red eyes of Lamont as he held his side with a bullet wound. One final thug came from the side and punched Lamont forcing him to drop his pistol. Lamont began blocking the punches and managed to catch the thug's arm before punching him once in the ribs and once in the face. The shadow man then punched the thug's elbow shattering it.

The thug fell to his knees before Lamont punched him in the face knocking him out. Lamont looked around but noticed that Jimmy had bolted from the plant without a trace.

"Damn it all." said Lamont as he decided to look into the plant's activities. "What are you involved with, Jimmy? Do you know?"

* * *

The next morning, Lamont was roaming the streets to find his friend. Lamont walked until he spotted the corner where he had first met Jimmy. Just then he spotted an elderly man playing a game of chess with a younger woman.

"Excuse me, I'm hoping you could tell me about the musician that was playing in that corner yesterday. Do you know him?" asked Lamont

"Yes," said the old man. "Sad story his is."

"Can you tell me?" asked Lamont with curiosity

"Sure, it all started a few years ago when Jimmy's mother passed away, he was distraught. But the last words that she told him were; 'follow your path'," said the old man "He had always been a free soul, looking for the next adventure the very next day. He tried his luck at some standard jobs but those didn't last, he always had his mind set on playing for people and making them happy. Sadly, fate had another say. He performed over and over but every single person told him that he just didn't have it in him or that he wasn't cut out for it."

"Sounds like he had it rough," said Lamont

"That was only the beginning I'm afraid," continued the old man "Jimmy's always had his own eyes blinded by any girl that looks at him. Which has gotten him in all sorts of problems. Those girls would use him and leave him heartbroken, oddly enough he's in his current mess because of that very thing."

"Shhh, you know we're not supposed to talk about that," said the young woman.

"I'm an old man, what do I care." said the old man

"You're referring to Don Ortega's daughter, Dulcinea?" asked Lamont

"That girl is trouble. Just like her father and mother." said the young woman moving her bishop.

"Yes, he met her by utter chance," said the old man. "He followed her around like some love sick puppy, and she used it to her advantage. He stole and did everything she wanted and then she said that she wasn't interested. He did not believe her. He continued going after her until she 'accepted her true feelings'. That was when Ortega discovered his gift."

"What gift?" asked Lamont

"His semblance allows him to turn his melodies into a hypnotic spell. But he's too good of a person to do anything wrong with it." said the old man

Lamont thanked him and then went on his way to find his friend.

After a short while of walking around, Lamont spotted Jimmy walking through the street while keeping his head down.

"Jimmy!" called out Lamont before going after him.

Jimmy only glanced back before running for his life. Lamont rushed after the flute player as he turned into an alleyway. Jimmy knocked and threw trash cans, boxes and pushed people out of the way. Lamont ran under and jumped over the obstacles with relative ease. He noticed that there was a fire escape ladder to the side of the alley. Lamont jumped at it and began climbing.

Jimmy kept on running until he found a large trash container and quickly hid behind it. He dropped down and began taking deep breaths until he fully calmed himself down.

"I got to get out of here. Don Ortega is going to kill me." said Jimmy

"You should go to the cops first." called a voice to Jimmy's side.

Jimmy jumped out of the way only to then see Lamont standing over him.

"Oh, it's just you." said Jimmy getting up.

"Yeah, we met yesterday. What's going on with you?" asked Lamont

Jimmy at first was hesitant to speak but then let out a sigh.

"I messed up on a job, now I'll lose everything I worked for," said Jimmy "My sweet Dulcinea won't accept me. Don Ortega won't help me anymore, not after I let him down. I don't know what to do."

"Jimmy, Don Ortega is a drug lord and a mobster. He's been taking over this city little by little. The people that have been killed were his competition. If you go to the police they'll arrest him." said Lamont

"No," said Jimmy "You're lying, he told me he was helping people."

"And that if you helped him, he'd make his daughter reconsider?" said Lamont "Neither of them care about you. You're expendable to them."

"No, you're lying," said Jimmy pushing Lamont back. "Do you think I don't know what people say? That I'm some loser who just can't see what's happening. That I should stop caring. But I'll prove you all wrong, I will."

Jimmy ran away with Lamont not being able to stop him.

"I hope you do, Jimmy," said Lamont with a pessimist sigh "I really do. But, Don Ortega is going down one way or another."

* * *

Jimmy went to Don Ortega's house. He was sweating like a mad man, as his mind was about to break down like a house of glass.

"This is all a big lie, it has to be." said Jimmy sweating.

Jimmy pulled out his flute and began playing it. The guards keeping a look out at the house began to feel sleepy, and felt as though the world was rocking. They slowly began to fall asleep from the sweet melody.

Jimmy went past the men and walked silently like a mouse until he found what he was looking for. The window of his beloved Dulcinea. He grabbed one of the pebbles on the ground and threw them at the window, hoping to get her attention.

After three pebbles had struck the window did Dulcinea opened the window with an irritated look on her face. She looked down and saw Jimmy kneeling down on one knee with his flute in his heart.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" asked Dulcinea

"My beloved Dulcinea, I have come to ask for your hand in marriage," said Jimmy "I have come here in a last ditch effort to take you to where you deserve."

Dulcinea however, didn't appear to be any more interested in Jimmy's confession as she would be in going to the dentist.

"Leave, now." said Dulcinea with clear venom in her words.

"I won't stop fighting for our love," said Jimmy "I will do anything for you."

"You stupid little man," said Dulcinea "I don't love you. I used you. You mean nothing to me. My father has only kept you around because he sees some sliver of usefulness in you. You want to do something for me? Drop dead."

Jimmy was at a loss for words. His little heart was slowly shattering as he felt like every word was much like a bullet. Dulcinea turned to go back to her room.

"But, why?" asked Jimmy as he held on to his flute.

Dulcinea stopped and turned back to the window.

"Because, you, Jimmy, are a loser. You will never amount to anything other than being a street rat or someone's stooge." said Dulcinea "You are nothing."

That last word cut Jimmy deeper than anything else in his life. Every memory of people rejecting him and calling him worthless, that he would never be best. His mother's words were now fading into the obscurity of the dark words of everyone else.

Jimmy kept gripping his flute as drops of rain began falling from the sky. He looked at his flute before something snapped inside. Jimmy got back on his feet and held his flute to play. The melody that came out was not like the ones before. This melody was one of rage, and wrath.

* * *

Lamont had debriefed his grandfather about the source of the crimes, and now was on his way to put an end to Don Ortega's criminal empire.

Lamont was standing near the entrance of the gate when he noticed something. The guards had shot themselves more than once. Lamont rushed past the guards only to see that the guards at the door had also been shot by their own rifles. He noticed that between them was none other than Jimmy's hat.

"Oh god, Jimmy," said Lamont pulling out his pistols. "What have you done?"

Lamont kicked the door down and the scene before him shook him. The place was covered in blood, the paintings were torn and ripped, the statues smashed to pieces and the people were dead on the floor. It seemed like a tornado had gone through the room.

"No please don't."

Lamont rushed to the second floor of the house. He found the room where the voice had come and saw the room.

Both Dulcinea and her mother laid dead on the floor, torn to pieces by their own hands. Don Ortega was down on the ground, his leg broken. And Jimmy stood above them, rage in his eyes.

"Why should I? You used me, just like your daughter and everyone else." said Jimmy

"Please, I can give you anything," said Ortega "You just name it."

"I am done being used. I am done with letting people think they can throw dirt on my face and think I won't fight back," said Jimmy holding his flute. "I want you and everyone else who's crossed me to pay."

"Jimmy!" called Lamont

Jimmy turned around and saw Lamont pulling down his scarf.

"Lamont?" asked Jimmy

"Don't do this," said Lamont "You're not a murderer. If you go to the police and tell them what he's done will get him imprisoned for the rest of his life. Do not become what they want you to become."

"You know I can't do that." said Jimmy looking at Don Ortega. "I've made people kill themselves and one another. I will have my revenge."

"I know what you feel. How you feel," said Lamont "You feel betrayed by everything you believed in. To see that the the world is a darker place than anything you could've imagined. You beg and wish to wake up from this nightmare, but you cannot. If you do this you'll become just as dark as the man before you, you can be better."

Jimmy teared as he knew the words wrung true.

"I'm afraid it's too late for me." said Jimmy

"I'll have to stop you, if you take another step on this endeavor." said Lamont aiming one of his pistols at Jimmy.

"Then you follow down your path, thank you for being a friend." said Jimmy before taking a deep breath.

Just as Jimmy was about to play his flute, Ortega screamed in fear.

A loud bang echoed through the room. A bullet exit wound appeared on Jimmy's chest. He dropped his flute as he followed soon afterwards.

Lamont had just shot his friend and he hated himself for it.

"Thank you, I'll make you rich for this." said Ortega

Lamont's eyes shun red as he walked towards the downed drug lord. A look of rage in his eyes as he glared at the man. Lamont aimed his pistol at the man.

"No, wait," said Ortega "You're one of the good guys."

"I'm not one of the good guys. I'm the guy that does what has to be done." said Lamont before pulling the trigger.

Lamont picked up the flute before leaving the house.

* * *

Back in the present, Lamont kept looking at the golden flute.

"I've hated myself for that a for a long time." said Lamont

"Don't forget about that rage. The excuses that we put on ourselves keep us going. If only I had been faster, stronger. If I had solved the case earlier." said Bruce "That is what makes us keep going."

Lamont placed the flute back into the box and then put the box on the attic.

"If only I had it," said Lamont "But I won't fail again. Not to this kingdom or anyone in it. I swear."


	15. Gun and Arrow

The night sky of Vale was clear and filled with stars. Nearby Beacon's cliffs, at the bottom, a lone figure moved through the shadows before firing an arrow all the way up with a rope attached to it. The figure began climbing all the way to the top until he reached the very grounds of the school.

The figure activated his night vision goggles and gazed upon the school. He spotted the CCT tower.

"There we go." said the figure.

The man ran through the shadows of the school keeping himself from the lights of the courtyard. A set of footsteps echoed through the entrance. The footsteps got closer but before the man was discovered he got covered between the trees. A group of students passed through the entrance talking smack.

"No man I swear, she was all over me." said one

"I don't buy it. She's two years older than you." said another

"You should invite her to your room then." said another student

"Yeah, that'll do the thing." said the first student

Just as the students passed, the figure moved out of the shadows. The figure was none other than the Archer.

Archer rushed though the school hallways as silent as a mouse before he reached the entrance of the communications tower. He opened the door and made his way to the elevator. Archer pulled a cord and connected it before activating a holographic screen and quickly began hacking the elevator. The contraption went up to the top in a manner of seconds.

As soon as the doors opened he pulled out his bow and took aim with another arrow ready for any resistance. Archer looked left and right in search of the security. Once he realized that there was none he simply relaxed.

"No security, I've met supermarkets with more security. I'm surprised someone hasn't used it to their advantage." said Archer as he made his way to one of the computers.

However, he was unaware of the silent alarm being set off by his movements.

Once Archer was in one of the computers he set out to work. He began hacking the security codes until he found the communications and all the different frequencies. Archer spotted many different calls coming in and out, and then he spotted the one one he was looking for. A frequency coming from far away.

"Bingo." said Archer right before he heard a ding.

Archer shut down the computer and crouched down behind the screens. A group of three armed security guards entered the room aiming their pistols in search of the target.

"I guess the mall cops are here doing some extra work for extra cash." said Archer

Just then Archer's scroll begins to ring earning the attention of all the security guards. Archer quickly goes to shut off his call but finds himself surrounded.

"Freeze, come out with your hands up." called one of the guards.

"Ok, ok, no need to do anything rash." said Archer as he slowly got up.

The security guards surrounded Archer and keeping their guns at him.

"You are easily the dumbest thief if there ever was one," said the second guard "No one would come into Beacon Academy and steal something thinking that they could walk out the front door."

"You'd think that would you," said Archer before grabbing hold of the guard to his left.

Archer elbowed the guard in the throat before grabbing his gun by the back and throwing it at the guard on the right. The remaining guard opens fire on Archer, but he rolls out of the way. The shots echo through the room until Archer got up and fired an arrow at the guard. The arrow exploded creating a smokescreen. Archer ran to the nearby window. The glass shattered as Archer jumped out, he turned around and fired a rope arrow at the top of the tower. Archer fell down holding the rope tightly.

Once he was close to the ground, Archer released his grip from the rope and landed on the ground. He took to running out of the scene of the crime just as more guards came towards the tower. As Archer made it back to a hiding spot only to bump into a young man with an army short hair cut and wore an armor.

"Watch where you're going loser!" said Cardin

Archer smacked him across the face with his bow twice before flipping him over. He fired a taser arrow at the student knocking him out. Archer dragged the student to one of the lockers and stuffed him inside it before breaking the lock.

"That takes care of him," said Archer as he then pulled his scroll out and began following the frequency.

Archer left the school without any more trouble, like a man on a mission no one would stop him.

* * *

The very next morning, Lamont was doing some repairs to his equipment as Margo kept a close eye on it. She began looking at the ammo and couldn't help notice that it wasn't Dust. Margo grabbed one of the bullets and began looking at it.

"What exactly are you using?" asked Margo "This isn't something you get at any old Dust shop."

Lamont grabbed the bullet before explaining.

"This is known as gunpowder or black powder. It's what was used before mining dust became much easier and lucrative," said Lamont "Turns out one of my ancestors found out something interesting. It turns out that Dust can works at a similar energy frequency as does aura. But gunpowder doesn't."

"I think they talked about something like that in history class back in high school," said Margo "That's why hunters can use it to do some crazy stuff."

"Exactly. The frequencies work much like magnets with similar polarities, Dust and auras are like two positive magnets. The more they clash the weaker the aura barrier will become but they'll never get together on the first try," said Lamont "Gunpowder on the other hand has what is known as a negative polarity. Instead of repelling it, it'll draw it in. Other materials react the same, but gunpowder can be made much easier than the other materials."

"Cheap and deadly," said Margo "That sounds like a perfume slogan or something."

Lamont only chuckled at the idea. Just then Bruce walked in.

"If you two aren't doing anything, you have work to do." said Bruce

"Where are we going?" asked Margo slightly curious. "Some run down bar that's a cover for a smuggling operation?"

"No, but close enough," said Bruce "You two are going to Beacon Academy."

That caused Lamont to drop his bullets before looking at his grandfather.

"Are you serious?" asked Lamont

"Do you see me laughing?" asked Bruce "There was a disturbance last night. You should go investigate."

Lamont held his words for a second and then let out a sigh.

* * *

Lamont and Margo made their way onto an airship and arrived at Beacon within the hour. The trip was alright and thanks to their news connections and work on Pulp News they didn't need to make an appointment. Hopefully they would be able to work and get an answer without much red tape. All the while Lamont looked gloomy and almost reluctant to be going to Beacon. Margo took notice of this and decided to ask the question.

"Why such a sour puss?" asked Margo

"Just tiered, nothing to be concerned," said Lamont looking over some notes.

Margo narrowed her eyes before punching him on the shoulder.

"You're a terrible liar, I thought you trusted me." said Margo

"I do, I just...don't know what to do," said Lamont surprising Margo. "I've always known that Beacon and its headmaster have secrets. Lots of 'em. Not sure what kind of can of worm is going to bust open. Are they aware of what's happening in the kingdom, and if they do why don't they do anything? What are they hiding? I must know, but we have a job to do."

After Lamont finished his sentence did the airship land on the school.

"We're about to find out." said Margo as she pulled Lamont out of his seat.

Lamont and Margo made their way to the CCT as students of all kinds walked around the hallways and the school courtyard. This surprised Margo quite a lot as she was used to seeing some pretty dark stuff on her day to day work life, but these 'future defenders' of the world were oblivious to them.

"It shakes you doesn't it?" said Lamont "After my dad and uncle passed, I found it hard to understand how the people could not be aware of what happens below the surface. I guess they've been told so often that the kingdom is safe that they don't see the problems until they are staring them in the face."

"Kinda unsettling if you ask me," said Margo "Come on, let's get to work."

As they continued their walk they caught sight of none other than Lamont's main pain in the neck, team RWBY talking with another group of teens. Lamont couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

"What does he look like anyway?" asked the male blond

"We never saw his face but it seemed like he was hiding it with a red scarf and a black mask." responded Yang

"I still can't believe you guys got that close to the vigilante and walked out unscathed. Tell me you fought him!" said a carrot head bubbly girl

"We did!" said Ruby feeling proud. "But he beat us and escaped." finished Ruby feeling gloomy.

"You can at least say that you came out alive, not many can say that." said a young man with long black hair

"That's true. I can't help but feel like he's conflicted." said Blake

"I'm surprised that Ozpin didn't give you more than detention for the next few weeks." said Jaune

"He must believe that we'll face The Shadow again." said Ruby

"Maybe next time you'll be able to talk with The Shadow." suggested Pyrrha Nikos.

"And afterwards we'll lock him up and throw away the key." said Weiss

Lamont couldn't help but smile slightly as the girls talked about him.

"Challenge accepted." said Lamont under his breath.

* * *

Lamont and Margo arrived at the communication hub and saw that it was indeed a mess. Some of the security personnel were cleaning up but there were no cops. Beacon was truly trying to keep the cops away from anything that they were doing. Lamont and Margo quickly went to work.

"Excuse me sir, I'm Margo Lane from Pulp News and I was wondering if you could tell me what happened here last night?" asked Margo putting on her friendliest face.

"Computer malfunction, nothing more ma'am." said the guard like a robot.

"Ma'am?! Do I look like an old lady to you?" asked Margo in rage. "I'm in my twenties!"

"Um..." whimpered the guard like a baby.

The guard found himself unable to answer as Margo shot him flaming eye glares.

As Margo kept the guards occupied, Lamont decided to do some sleuthing. He clouded the minds of the remaining guards as he went on his way. He noticed a few scorch marks and damage around the room. Lamont felt the wind coming into the room and turned towards its direction and spotted a broken window. The criminal must've been caught just as he was finishing whatever he was doing and then made his way out through the window. Just then one of the guards pulled an arrow off of the ceiling which caught Lamont's attention. He only knew one person that would've used an arrow to escape, but what could he have been doing here of all places.

Lamont spotted one of the computers hadn't been shot. He pressed one of the keys and it turned on. Lamont began searching for any of the recently opened programs and he noticed that according to the records, this computer had been tracing caller frequencies both in and out, one in particular stood out. It came from far away, out of the kingdom's farthest frontiers.

Lamont quickly moved back to where Margo was, still looking like she was going to tear off the poor guard a new one.

"I'm sorry sir, we'll be on our way." said Lamont dragging Margo away.

Margo kept glaring at the guard but as soon as they turned around she let out a sigh.

"Please, tell me you got something useful." said Margo under her breath.

"I'll tell you when we get out." said Lamont before leaving.

* * *

"So, Archer is back? I heard about his escape a few days ago but I thought that he'd be laying low. Why show up now?" asked Margo "Why would he be coming here of all places?"

Once outside the tower Lamont had told Margo everything that he found out.

"Like I said, Beacon holds a pretty big amount of secrets," said Lamont "Maybe someone hired him to find some of them out. But he instead went for tracking calls. One of which came pretty far from the kingdom, he got the coordinates for it. He'll be going there."

"That's a good hunch, but you forgot to mention why there were no cops looking at the crime scene. The headmaster must what everything to be hush hush." said Margo

Lamont and Margo looked at the building, wondering what sort of dark secrets laid inside it. Unbeknownst to them someone was looking down on them from the top of the highest tower.

"I'll figured it out later," said Lamont as they left. "But now, I hunt an archer for answers."

"How exactly are you going to find him?" asked Margo

Lamont smiled as an idea popped into his head.

"I'll get to bust out a new toy." said Lamont smiling.

* * *

Lamont had gotten geared up and The Shadow went for the hunt. However, this night he wasn't on the rooftops but instead he was high in the sky on an airplane. The airplane had a long black body with a pair of black wings, a massive turbine on the center of the body and a red stripe on the back. It had two mounted machine guns on the sides and The Shadow was piloting it.

The plane made it through the borders without much issues as it blended into the night. The Shadow flew through the air as he felt the wind on his face and he had to admit that this was a great feeling, the sad part was that he had to tied down his hat to avoid it flying away.

"I am following the signal, prepare for radio silence." said The Shadow through the com-link.

"Understood, be careful." said Bruce over the radio.

The Shadow turned off the radio and then began making his way to the origin of the signal. The shattered moon and the stars were the only light that illuminated The Shadow's path.

The vigilante quickly flew over the ruins of Mount Glenn a sobering reminder of the harshness of the world for most. But The Shadow knew something more about the expansion that most people didn't. The city had been thought out to be an expansion of the kingdom, but in the end the people in charge of the project decided to semi-build the city on unstable ground and blamed the grimm when they abandoned the project. Those people sacrificed others in order to pocket all the remaining money for themselves. Thankfully, Lamont's grandfather had gotten back at them at the end of a gun shot.

After an hour of flying had passed, The Shadow gazed upon a set of lights not far from where he was flying. The closer The Shadow got the better he saw what was going on back on the ground. It was a massive mining operation. There were large lorries carrying what appeared to be loads of dust. Large head lamps casted down light as armed guards kept watch around the perimeter. A long electric fence surrounded the area, and inside the mine there was a large communications tower. All this and more could be seen from the air as The Shadow circled around the area getting a good understanding of its layout.

Seeing an open field not too far off the vigilante went own for a quiet landing. Once on the ground, The Shadow covered his plane before heading towards the mine hoping to get some needed answers.

The Shadow laid low on a hill and observed the mining operation going around. He quickly spotted people both humans and Faunus being forced to work in the mines against their will. They all were being ordered and aimed at by some of the guards as they worked through the hard stones. The large tower was just as guarded and was most likely the only communications that the camp had with anyone else in Vale.

"What in the world is going on here?" asked The Shadow

Just then The Shadow heard some rocks being moved to his side. He turned towards the noise and spotted Archer not far from where he was. The thief was using his night vision goggles to look around the compound almost as if he was looking for something or someone inside it.

The Shadow snuck up until he was behind the thief and placed one of his pistols at the back of his head. Archer went stiff as the cold steel pressed on his head.

"Get up," said The Shadow "I want answers."

"Easy there big guy," said Archer lifting his hands. "Believe it or not I'm not the bad guy here."

"Why did you break into the CCT tower? What is this place?" asked The Shadow

"Well, in that order, I was looking for a friend but he was taken by some mining corporation. I needed to find the location of the mine and the best way to do so was through the biggest antenna I could find." said Archer "And this is that mine."

After saying that one of the lights came towards them, causing The Shadow to grip Archer's shirt and pull him to the ground. After the light passed them they looked up once more.

"Listen, I know that I don't owe you anything and you sure don't owe me anything, but I can really use some help," said Archer

"Why should I trust you?" asked The Shadow

"I'm a thief, I've never done anything that bad. I'm helping a friend that helped me and I pay my debts," said Archer "Besides, there are some innocents down there."

"Who's operating this mine and for what purpose?" asked The Shadow

"I don't know, all I do know is that my friend is in there," said Archer before running towards the fence.

Archer loaded an arrow with an attached rope on his bow and fired it. Once the arrow landed on the other side of the fence, Archer placed his bow over the rope and zip lined to the other side. The Shadow followed after him with speed and dexterity.

The Shadow fired his grappling hook and flew over the fence. Once he landed, he began to go after Archer. As he made his way through the mine he noticed how in the control room a woman in black was talking with someone on her scroll. The Shadow crouched down and got close to hear her talk.

"Yes Mr. Khan, you'll get the rest of your dust soon. Entry? Same old underground ways. The Black Dragon thanks you for your business." said the lady

The Shadow's eyes widen, he'd been after the Black Dragon for some time but he hadn't gotten any information on her. And she was working with Shiwan Khan on his project, arming him. Big time.

The Shadow then heard a small commotion occurring inside the cave, most likely Archer was causing some trouble. If he went in to help him then there was a good chance that he'd miss the chance to figure out the goal that Shiwan was after.

The Shadow's fist tightened before sprinting towards the mine and save the people inside.

* * *

The Shadow went through the tunnel keeping clear of the guards. He found himself inside a large cave where a group of people were being held at gun point by some of the guards.

"Get back to work, or you will be shot!" ordered one of the guards.

"We've been working for days, you can't treat us like this!" replied a Faunus woman.

"Yeah, we want to go back to our families not die down here!" said a man.

"Oh go cry to the HR department." said another guard

Just then one of the miners grabbed a rock and flung it at the guards. This prompted the rest of the workers to throw rocks of their own.

The guards blocked the stones as best as they could before they looked at one another and radioed the Black Dragon. After a few minutes of silence the boss responded.

"Get rid of them," ordered the Black Dragon through the radio.

The guards looked at the workers before aiming at their guns at them causing the workers to stop.

"Tough shit." said one of the guards.

The Shadow pulled out his pistols and got ready to jump in when an arrow landed between the guards. The arrow exploded sending the guards back.

Archer landed before the workers before firing an arrow at one of the guards landing in his head. Archer loaded another arrow and fired it at another guard before charging in and smacking a guard with his bow before jumping over him dodging bullets coming his way. He pulled back another arrow and fired it hitting the guard square in the chest.

"Better get down there before he gets killed." said The Shadow before jumping down just as more guards came their way.

The Shadow opened fire against the guards as Archer flipped another guard to the ground. The prisoners ran behind some large rocks for cover as both vigilantes finished the underground fire fight. The Shadow kept firing with deadly precision before turning around and helping Archer take down his. Archer jumped over one guard and flipped him by pulling him with his bow.

"What took you so long?" asked Archer

"Shut up and fight already." said The Shadow

Both vigilantes turned the tables on the guards with relative ease. The Shadow fired and punched anyone that came close to him while Archer continued to fire some tricked arrows at them. The guards easily were fell by the onslaught that the two warriors unleashed upon them.

Once they were done Archer went towards the group of workers and a wolf Faunus man walked up to him.

"You okay, Bernie?" asked Archer

"I'm good, but many of us haven't had water or proper rest in a few days," said Bernie as he hugged his friend "Who's your friend?"

"I'm not his friend, but I am here to help," said The Shadow "How did you get here, and how many are here?"

"These guys just showed up and took us from our homes to mine this crud," said Bernie

"Why didn't you call for help?" asked The Shadow "Huntsmen or someone would've answered the call."

"Hell no! We rather live free than to owe those leeches anything." said one of the men "All they want is for people to follow their damn rules because it's supposedly a safe haven for people, but it's a pit of snakes."

"Yeah, we all chose to live by our own rules." said a Faunus woman

"I know how you feel, but you still need help from time to time," said The Shadow

"That's why we're here." said Archer as he and The Shadow reloaded their weapons.

* * *

The Shadow and Archer exited through the mine entrance ready to enact their plan. The guards continued on their patrol but suddenly the lights were shattered causing panic to take over.

"What is going on?" asked the Black Dragon "Get the lights back on we're still on a schedule."

The guards did as they were ordered but they didn't get very far. Once the mine was surrounded in darkness the two vigilantes made their next move. The Shadow and Archer punched the guards in the face, kicked them in their stomachs. Archer slipped another guard against one of the trucks before using his rifle and smacking another one in the face. The Shadow jumped over two guards slamming them into the ground and then kicking another guard in the face.

The guards scrammed in terror amidst the darkness and fired indiscriminately. All they could do was hear the haunting laughter of The Shadow.

 **MWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

"Turn the lights back on now!" ordered the Black Dragon

The lights turned back on, temporarily blinding both The Shadow and Archer but the damage had been done. The majority of the guards laid down on the ground dead or unconscious, however the vigilantes were still outnumbered.

"Kill them!" ordered the Black Dragon

Good thing that they had a plan.

Suddenly, all the forced workers emerged from the mine and they all quickly grabbed the guns of the fallen guards. The workers began fighting back.

Amidst the chaos the Black Dragon decided to make a break for it. Rushing towards one of the final lorries the Black Dragon believed that her salvation was within reach. But she never reached it.

The Shadow appeared before her with both of his pistols aimed at her.

"You shall not escape justice Black Dragon," said The Shadow "Why does Shiwan Khan want this much dust?"

"Who the hell knows, I only mine for profit," said the Black Dragon "Do you know how many clients I have with influence? Nothing that happens here will ever float in a courtroom in Vale."

"Then you'll pay for your crimes, here and now," said The Shadow before pulling the trigger.

* * *

The sun rose again and all the workers had been freed and were about to head back to their homes. The Shadow observed as they saddled up on the lorries and were about to be on their way.

"We're almost ready to go," said Archer walking up to The Shadow. "I'd offer you a ride but we're not going to Vale."

"They should keep the Dust if they plan on living out here," said The Shadow "I need you to tell me something; What do you know about Shiwan Khan? What is he planning?"

"Wish I could tell you, but he just asked me to steal some stuff." said Archer

"Stay out of the city, whatever he's planning must be pretty big for all the Dust he purchased and received." said The Shadow before walking away.

"Hey, why did you decide to help anyway?" asked Archer

"I did what I thought was right, and I'll continue to do so, even if that puts the world against me." said The Shadow before heading towards his plane.

"Good luck with that partner." said Archer


	16. The Light

In the dark of the night, a man drunk with alcohol stumbled into his room. Now you may say how irresponsable of him to drink so much during a work night. But you must understand that he'd just gotten a massive promotion in his work and as such his friends decided to celebrate his success. Besides, he didn't drive home. It was Friday and had some fun. What was so wrong about it?

"I think I'll *hic* get *hic* have one more *hic* drink. *hic*" said the man going to the bar.

The man loosened his tie and was about to go to bed when a bright light blinded him.

"Who's there? *hic* Guys, we can have more drinks tomorrow. Let me sleep. *hic*" said the man

"Jason Savant, your reckoning is at hand," said a voice from the light.

"Who-What do you want?" asked the now named Jason Savant

"O gluttony, foulest of sins, I will not let this servant of the gods to be yours," said the voice "O sinful soul you shall be redeemed by being freed from that corruptable flesh."

"No wait!" Said Jason now sobered by fear.

The light was reflected by a long curved blade before it swiftly fell down upon the poor man.

Jason Savant fell to the ground with a sharp slice on his chest. The light dimmed down enough to show a long curved blade with a white handle and silver guard and pumble as well as a long white veil dress.

"You may now go in peace," said the assassin in a feminine voice "May the gods forgive your sins."

Just as she was leaving, one of the mirrors showed her shinning silver eyes as the rest of her was covered in a white veil.

* * *

As soon as the sun rose the police were on the scene of the crime. The police tape and two officers kept everyone out of the area as some crime scene investigators went through the area in the search for clues. The scene was fairly clean, and only the dead man's body was out of place. One of the CSI took another picture of the body showing a clear slash that was presumedly the cause of death.

Detective Pat was angrily looking through his scroll as he felt the pressure of finding the person responsible. The murder was not something odd, there were murders all the time, but this one didn't make sense. The man was an upstanding citizen save for a speeding ticket or two, he didn't have any enemies and yet this happened.

"What the hell is going on around here?" asked Pat "I swear the city is going downhill ever since The Shadow showed up here."

"Detective, a word." said Lamont standing behind Pat.

Pat walked up to Lamont knowing fully well what this was about.

"What do you need Lamont?" asked Pat "As if I gotta ask."

"I was wondering if you believe that this most recent murder had anything to do with the other ones?" asked Lamont

"As far as we know, this murder is similar to a couple of others but we have nothing but the cause of death to go on. The only witnesses we had are laying low and won't come forth." said Pat "This sometimes makes me wish the huntsmen would come down from their ivory tower and help out."

"Thanks for the heads up Pat. Anything I can help you with?" asked Lamont

"Not unless you got the address of some huntsmen or a team of super detectives on speed dial." said Pat "You don't, do you?"

"Sorry Pat, but if I find something I'll tip you off ok." said Lamont before leaving the scene.

As Lamont walked he began thinking about the situation. In the last couple of weeks different people had been found murdered in a similar fashion. The first one was a Dave Ulson business manager of an important auto manufacturing company, found murdered in his penthouse apartment. The escorts that were with him claimed that a white specter ended his life before letting them go. The second victim was Jane Savannah a Faunus woman, a law attorney that had been working on keeping dangerous criminals off the streets. Found dead on her home, same cause of death, no witnesses. And now Jason Savant, the new head of surgery at Vale general. Three deaths in the same manner in as many days.

There was nothing linking these three people, but the ghost woman was the only lead. She used a sword which meant that he was looking for a woman with training in stealth and sword fighting. The Shadow needed to speak with those escorts, and quick.

* * *

In Beacon, Yang Xiao Long was reading an article of new motorcycle parts coming from Atlas in her room when she saw her sister Ruby walk in with great speed.

"Hey sis." said Ruby with a tiered face.

"Hard test?" asked Yang

"Yeah, Professor Peach is tough with math. Why do I even need to learn this stuff if I'm going to be fighting Grimm?" asked Ruby before slouching down.

"Maybe you could add it up in the future?" said Yang before her scroll began to ring.

Yang pulled out her scroll and saw that it was her father, Taiyang. Yang wondered what her father was calling her about, hopefully it wouldn't be about their team's arrest.

"Hey dad, what's up?" asked Yang

 _"Yang, turn on the news." said Taiyang over the scroll._

Yang did as her father told her. As soon as the TV turned on a newscast reel began speaking.

 _"...And here at the scene of the latest murder, the victim was a young man by the name of Jason Savant. After a night of partying with his friends, the young man was found dead in his apartment sliced by what some officers claim was a sword. This appears to be the work of a serial killer that has been dubbed the "Ghost Woman". No picture or positive ID is currently available but authorities advise the people to exercise caution. This has been Vale news, I am Veronica Dime reporting."_

As soon as the report was done Yang turned off the TV and went back to her scroll.

"Dad, what's going on?" asked Yang worry creeping in her voice.

 _"Yang I want you to stay out of this. Please." said Taiyang_

Yang's eyes widen in confusion, she looked at her calendar and a day was marked. Yang looked at Ruby and then took her call to the hallway.

"Dad, you can't be serious," said Yang in a whisper " _She_ would never."

 _"They never found a body, swords were her weapon," said Taiyang over the scroll. "I can't be sure, but I don't want you looking into this. I may be paranoid and I don't want you or your sister getting hurt. Promise me Yang, you won't go looking for this person."_

"I promise dad, but if she is alive you...know who will be after her." said Yang

 _"I know." said Taiyang "I love you and your sister."_

"Love you too dad." said Yang before hanging up.

Yang's eyes showed her conflict. She had to be sure. And she had to keep Ruby out of this mess, at all cost.

* * *

Night had fallen upon Vale and people tried to keep their night activities on the down low but some didn't had that choice. A young Faunus dark skinned woman walked through the street after finishing her last appointment of the night. She seemed scared and constantly looked back over his shoulder. It was almost as if she wanted to keep away from the dark corners.

"Natasha Castle." called The Shadow from the darkness

The now named Natasha turned around to the dark corner and jumped back slightly as she was not expecting The Shadow to appear. His reputation proceeded him and it made all dwellers of the night to be cautious of his appearance.

Natasha tried to run away only for The Shadow to appeared before her cutting her off.

"I need you to answer some questions; Two nights ago, your services were required by Dave Ulson a few hours later you and your colleagues called the police about a phantom lady." said The Shadow "What happened that night? I need to know."

"I don't know what I saw, ok? The police told me that it was a hallucination or something." said Natasha

"Enlighten me. This phantom has struck twice already, and your aid could stop more." said The Shadow causing Natasha to look away.

Like you said, Ulson hired me and some other girls to entertain himself. We were all ready to get started when this crazy bitch showed up in a blinding flash of light." said Natasha "I heard a blade being unsheathed and then a woman's voice called out to Ulson saying that his days were numbered and that his soul had to be purified or something. Me and the other girls got the hell out of there before things got ugly."

"Are you sure this phantom was indeed a woman?" asked The Shadow

"Her voice just sounded motherly, it was sweet, warm and soothing. But this voice it was strange, a little old testament like." said Natasha

"Did she mentioned anything in particular about Ulson, like why she was killing him?" asked The Shadow

"She said that she was freeing his innocent soul from his corruptible body." said Natasha hugging herself. "That part really made my skin run cold."

"What can you tell me about her weapon? The reports said that it was a sword of some kind. Did you get a good look at it?" asked The Shadow

"Yeah, it looked like a straight double edge sword blade and the handle was in the shape of a cross." said Natasha

"I see, thank you for your time miss. I'll be sure to stop this killer." said The Shadow as he began to walk away.

"Wait, how do you know it ain't a ghost?" asked Natasha

"Ghosts don't need swords to kill people. Killer do, and I'll stop this one." said The Shadow before flying to the rooftops.

Natasha couldn't help but feel a little more at ease by the presence of The Shadow patrolling the night. She then began to make her way home as The Shadow kept a watchful eye on her from above the rooftop.

* * *

Yang drove through the streets on her bike the Bumblebee. She still had an hour before she had to return to Beacon and she was planning to make it count. Her informant Junior hadn't given her anything to go by but she had to find this phantom lady.

"Come on, where would you be?" asked Yang before turning the corner on her bike.

Her speed continued to increase as she passed through the lights of the street. Yang wanted to continue on but then her scroll began to ring forcing her to slow down to a stop. She saw that it was her sister Ruby.

"Hey Rubes, what's up?" asked Yang

 _"Hey Yang, where are you? Blake and Weiss said they haven't seen you and it's close to curfew." said Ruby over the scroll_

"Oh, I was just thinking of having a quick ride with Bumblebee. But I'm already on my way back, so don't worry." said Yang before hanging up. "Damn, now that the girls are onto me I have to get back or I'll be in trouble."

Yang turned around once more and drove back towards the huntsman academy passing an elderly man heading back to his home.

"Young ladies these days sure have no understanding of prudence." said the old man as he saw Yang drive off. "Then again, I am quite the outrageous old man myself at my age."

The old man made it to his apartment and pulled out his computer. As soon as it turned on the old man went through his stocks and increase of money. The old man cheered and did a little dance as he now was very rich.

"Oh yeah, I'm getting a new suit tonight. Yes you are Jeremy Mason." said the now named Jeremy Mason

Despite his age Jeremy Mason was quite well off and that was not just because he had several well paying investments, but also because he kept every penny he could get his gummy hands on. Of course he spent big when he wanted. At that moment Jeremy celebrated gaining 5,000 Lien this week and it was about to increase before the end of the month.

Sadly, before Jeremy could celebrate a bright blinding light illuminated the room. Jeremy covered his eyes cursing that he didn't remembered the lights being so damn bright.

"Jeremy Mason, your immortal soul is being tainted by the sin of greed!" called a voice from the light. "But do not despair, for I am here to free your soul. Prepare to face judgement."

A long blade rose high in the air, and with a quick movement Jeremy's right arm was slashed. Jeremy fell to the floor in pain as blood dripped down the remains of his arm. The Light was about to put an end to Jeremy but then the window shattered open as The Shadow burst into the apartment guns blazing!

"Hold your hand phantom! You will not take another life on my watch!" said The Shadow with his guns ready.

The phantom lady turned to face The Shadow and he finally got a good look at her. The phantom wore a long white robe with a hood and veil that covered her face but her eyes. She wore armored bracelets, a metal chain belt and shoulder defenses. On her right hand she held a long sword with a red cross guard and a silver cross on her pummel.

The Light turned to face the Shadow as he held his pistols against her.

"You would dare get in my way?" asked The Light "This man's immortal soul is being tainted by his sins, and my mission is to save those souls."

"You save people by murdering them?" asked The Shadow "I don't think that's how it works."

The Shadow jumped forward trying to get Jeremy to make his escape. The Light jumped forward to meet his advance bringing down her sword towards her opponent. The Shadow brought up his pistol's butt to block the blade and redirect the attack. The dark avenger took this opening to strike back by punching The Light in the face. The Light saw the attack coming and bended her neck backwards narrowly avoiding the punch before twisting her sword free. She swung the blade backwards forcing The Shadow to jump back only getting a small cut on his cape.

"I don't believe we've been formally introduced," said The Shadow "Men call me The Shadow and I bring criminals to justice."

"I am The Light of the World and crime means nothing to me. I answer to a higher calling!" said The Light before splitting her sword into two and charging at The Shadow "And NO one will get in my way!"

The Shadow opened fire upon the vicious swordswoman. The bullets cut through the air towards their target with deadly precision, anyone would have been turned into Swiss cheese but not The Light. The Light began to swiftly move her blades to block to bullets or cutting them from the very air. Every movement was a dance and every shot was taken down.

"You can cut bullets from the air?" asked The Shadow as he was truly surprised.

"When one follows the will of Shamba-La's masters, nothing is impossible!" called out the Light as The Shadow narrowly dodged another attack that cut a piece of his scarf.

The Light swung once more with her second blade, cutting into The Shadow's arm. The Shadow grunted in pain as he was surprised that the blade actually cut him. The Light turned her attention back to Jeremy Mason who tried to get to the door but he couldn't.

"You're quick and skilled, but do you really think your masters would approve of this?" asked The Shadow "What judgement will you face?"

"I do not fear judgement. I am her servant." said The Light reading herself to strike down the old man.

"Stop that man's innocent, what kind of judgement is that?!" asked The Shadow aiming his pistol at the woman.

"This man's soul is stained by the deadly sin of greed, only through death may he truly be saved." said The Light

The Light was about to stab Jeremy when suddenly a loud shotgun blast echoed through the room. A fire dust round blasted one of the swords away from The Light's hand. The Light snarled in pain before everyone looked at the source of the fireball.

"Good thing I saw the crazy lightshow. So is this a private party or can anyone join?" asked Yang Xiao Long

"You will pay for this interference, but it was all for naught." said The Light before trying to stab Jeremy once more.

The Shadow took this chance and fired a round of his own nicking her shoulder.

"I won't let you take his life." said The Shadow getting up to his feet.

The Light looked at both of the warriors on either side of her and decided that she was at a disadvantage. With a sigh The Light made her decision.

"I've wasted enough time here. But know that I will not look at this interference kindly." said The Light

"Like hell it's-" began the Shadow as a powerful flash of light blinded everyone in the room. "So. Bright."

Once the light faded away The Light was gone, and Jeremy fell to the floor out of blood loss and exhaustion. Yang went quickly to his side as The Shadow went to the window hoping to catch a glimpse of the white assassin's escape. But there was nothing.

"Sir, please stay with me." said Yang hoping to help the old man.

"Take him to a hospital," said The Shadow before wrapping a piece of his cape to put pressure on the wound.

"What about you?" asked Yang

"I'll be fine, and I need to get answers," said The Shadow "He takes priority."

The Shadow grabbed hold of the sword on the floor before disappearing as Yang called an ambulance.

* * *

Lamont had returned to his home and began receiving treatment for his wound. Margo was currently finishing the stitches as Bruce moved the bloody rags to the garbage.

"I still say you should've gone to a hospital, the last time I stitched someone together was oh never." said Margo

"Hospitals ask questions, in a couple of days it'll be like new." said Lamont "I'm more concern about The Light and what she'll do now."

"You and Ms Xiao-Long stopped her from finishing the job, The Light might go after Mr. Mason once more," said Bruce "What made her choose him as her target? He doesn't have any criminal records, just like the other victims."

"Maybe it isn't about criminals, many serial killers and cultist killed people because they do something they don't agree with," said Margo

"That might be it, she was talking a lot of nonsense about the gods, sins, and the will of Shamba-La." said Lamont causing Bruce to drop the tray.

"Where did you hear that name?" asked Bruce turning to Lamont

"The Light said that she was following his will by freeing the souls of her victims." said Lamont "Do you know him?"

Bruce let out a breath before he began looking at the sword that Lamont had brought back and noticed something about the blade itself.

"Shamba-La isn't a person, it's a place," said Bruce "But right now, finding The Light takes priority and I think where we can find her. Look here."

Lamont got up from the operating table and walked to the sword. He pulled a magnifying glass and looked at where Bruce was pointing at. There were some residues of disinfectant alcohol smell. The blade on its own was made with resources that could've come from a Huntsman academy or prep school. Whoever The Light was she had knowledge of a trained Huntress, and had abilities similar to Lamont's.

"We have to find her, because everyone she kills from here on will be on my head." said Lamont

* * *

Jeremy Mason had been taken to Vale Hope General Hospital and had been treated to the best of the doctor's ability. He managed to survive the night and was resting while Pat and some of his officers were keeping watch over him.

"Doc, when do you think he'll wake up?" asked Pat to the doctor.

"He is still under observation, but he should be able to answer your questions soon. Just make sure you don't startle him." said the doctor

"Thanks doc." said Pat before turning to his officers. "I want you on watch duty until this man can be moved. No one goes in or out without clearing it with me."

"Yes sir." replied the officers.

* * *

An hour after Pat entered the room, Mr. Mason began to wake up and open his eyes.

"Where am I?" asked Mason

"You're in Hope General, Mr. Mason. I'm detective Pat Finnegan, the doctor said I could ask you some questions." said Pat

"Where..where is she?" asked Mason

"The lady that called the ambulance is currently at school, I've arranged to talk to her later, she should come around in thirty minutes alright." said Pat

Mr. Mason struggled to get up from the bed feeling the sting from his arm. Pat moved his hand to help him.

"No, the woman that attacked me. Where is she?" asked Mason in fear.

"I was actually hoping you could tell me about her." said Pat taking out a scroll and activated the recorder "What do you remember of her? Can you describe her?"

"Everything happened so quickly, first there was this flash of light and this broad wearing some sort of white dress nearly chopped off my arm," said Mr. Mason "She said some things and then that vigilante The Shadow busted in and started fighting her crazy ass."

"The Shadow was there? Miss Xiao-Long didn't mention it. Please continue." said Pat before the door opened up. "What's the matter, I asked not to be disturbed."

At the door was one of the officers posted outside.

"Sorry sir, but the young lady you asked to speak to has just arrived." said the officer

"Xiao-Long? Let her in." said Pat

"She says that she came to look at the victim. And that her sister came with her." said the officer

"That's fine." said Pat with a tiered sigh.

Both Yang and Ruby entered the room.

"Ruby I keep telling you to stop following me." said Yang

"And I keep telling you that you're very danger prone, so I'm sticking to you." replied Ruby

As much as Pat enjoyed the banter between the sisters, he had a job to do. The sooner he got this crazy killer out of the streets and before The Shadow off her off would really make his day.

"Miss Xiao-Long, I thought I was expecting you in the Police Department with chief Galespy." said Pat

"I came to make sure that the old man was alright, and I figured that since I got you here now," said Yang "Two birds, one stone."

"I thank you for doing this, but I'm in the middle of something with Mr. Mason. So if you wouldn't mind." said Pat

"Calm down detective, I see no harm in saying thank you to the lady that saved my skin." said Mr. Mason

"You're welcome sir. See Ruby? No problem what so ever." said Yang

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good to see you're alright mister." said Ruby getting closer to the old man offering her hand. "My name is Ruby Rose."

Jeremy Mason took hold of Ruby's hand and shook it with no problem, but as soon as he took a good look at her eyes all color left his face. His grip fell limp as he slowly began to tremble. The monitor and the machines that were connected to Jeremy Mason began to pick up his accelerated heart rate.

This caught the attention of both Pat and Yang.

"Mr. Mason? Are you alright?" asked Pat

"Eyes...SILVER EYES!" screamed Mr. Mason causing the doctors to bust in.

"Everyone out now!" ordered the Doctor

Pat, Yang and Ruby were all kicked out from the room as the doctor and the nurse tried to calm down the old man that was screaming 'silver eyes'.

"Someone care to explain what happened?" asked Pat looking at Ruby

"I don't know, he just looked at me and was terrified." said Ruby

"Maybe we should leave," said Yang leading Ruby out of the hospital "I'll talk to you later detective."

Pat didn't answer as he remembered how Mr. Mason began to freak out when he looked Ms. Rose in the eyes. Maybe the assailant had the same color of eyes. Silver Eyes were something rare, so that narrowed down the list of possible culprits. Something was up and he had to understand it. Unbeknownst to anyone, a nun wearing a white cloak made a note of the situation.

* * *

Yang and Ruby returned to Beacon with a hurried step. They decided to go straight to the Headmaster to tell him about what has happened. They were greeted by Glynda Goodwitch, the second in command of Professor Ozpin.

The woman had an air of serenity and authority unlike any one would find in their daily lives. She wore a white blouse with a black vest under her chest, black pants with matching stockings, black high heels, and a slightly torn cape. Her platinum blond hair was tied in a bun and she had her glasses adorning her emerald eyes.

She allowed the girls to enter the office where Ozpin was currently drinking a cup of coffee.

"Ah, Miss Rose and Miss Xiao-Long, what can I do for you today?" asked Ozpin

"Professor, we were just wondering what were we supposed to do?" asked Ruby

"About?" asked Ozpin feign ignorance.

Yang and Ruby looked at each other in confusion.

"About the crazy killer that has been stalking the city? The underground movements of different criminal groups? The burnt buildings and the stacks of recovered dust? All the messes that are happening in our backyard?" asked Yang "Any of those ring a bell?"

Everyone remained in silence for the headmaster to answer the question.

"I believe that the police have everything under control, Miss Xiao-Long. You and your team should focus on your studies in order to become huntresses." said Ozpin

Yang and Ruby weren't too convinced.

"Yeah, but shouldn't like a huntsman or two go and give them a hand. I mean that would help and maybe The Shadow would be brought to justice." said Ruby

"There's no need for huntsmen or huntresses to get involved in this matter." said Ozpin sternly. "There are greater things that we must focus, now please return to your classes."

Yang and Ruby did as the headmaster told them, although Yang was clearly not convinced. As the two sisters went down the elevator the tension and lack of a clear answer or clarity frustrated them, or at least did Yang.

"This isn't over." said Yang

"But you heard Professor Ozpin, we can trust him right?" asked Ruby

"I don't think he's right about this sis." said Yang

* * *

Night had fallen on Vale, and in Hope General Mr. Mason slept soundly after being given several sedatives to calm him. A light illuminated the room as The Light appeared ready to finish the job.

"Take comfort sinner, your soul will no longer be in this land of corruption." said The Light lifting her blade.

"Not today." said The Shadow

The Light turned to face The Shadow as he bursted quickly from the shadows and tackling her out the window. The two mysterious figures fell through the air in a constant struggle with The Shadow constantly keeping The Light from breaking free. The Light managed to kick The Shadow away from her and propelling herself towards another building. The vigilante followed shortly by firing his grappling gun at the building. He landed with a roll and began chasing The Light as she rushed through the rooftop.

"You won't get away this night." said The Shadow as he caught up to The Light.

"How did you figured where I would be?" asked The Light

"The scent of alcohol and the latex residue on your sword gave me the information I needed, I also figured that you'd want to finish Jeremy Mason." said The Shadow as he began to trade blows with The Light.

The Shadow kept a close distance between him and his opponent, preventing her from using her sword against him.

"You may be skilled with a blade, but if you aren't wielding it you are no match for me." said The Shadow before kicking her side.

The Light pulled out her sword and charged at The Shadow, but before she could get to him he fired his grappling gun and flew to the sky. Once The Shadow landed on the rooftop he began to open fire upon the deadly inquisitor.

"We've done this dance before fiend of darkness, do you think this time it'll be different?" asked The Light blocking the bullets with her sword.

After saying those words, one of The Shadow's bullets shot her on the shoulder.

"You need skill and luck for my bullets not to hit you, but I only need enough luck to hit you once!" said The Shadow

The Shadow continued on his onslaught managing to hit The Light twice more, on in the leg and once in her left arm. This caused her to stagger back and The Shadow decided that it was about time to finish the fight once and for all.

"This ends here Light." said The Shadow reloading his pistols not noticing that the veil covering The Light's face fell from her face.

"We'll take it from here Shadow." called a voice causing The Shadow to turn towards the source.

The source of the voice was none other than Yang Xiao-Long and she wasn't alone. Her sister Ruby was aiming her weapon in gun form at both The Shadow and The Light. The Shadow couldn't help but growl at the untimely arrival of the two girls.

"What do you two think you're doing here?!" asked The Shadow

"We figured that you were doing enough with your outlaw style of justice and it was about time to take some initiative." said Yang

"Besides we are working with the law." said Ruby causing The Shadow to groan

Just then The Light got up revealing her face. Both Yang and Ruby's eyes widen as they immediately recognized the face of the woman before them. She had pale skin, black hair with reddish ends, and her eyes were colored silver.

"Mom?" asked Ruby in a barely audible whisper.

"What?" asked The Shadow before Ruby rushed towards her with her semblance.

"I can't believe that you're alive!" said Ruby with tears.

"Summer, mom, you're supposed to be dead." said Yang catching The Shadow's attention.

"What?" asked The Shadow before turning back to The Light and Ruby. "Girl! Stay away from her, she's dangerous."

The Light looked into Ruby's eyes and she saw the innocent soul within her. A smile appeared on her face as she found a kindred spirit.

"Do not worry my child, follow upon your trail and slay all those that do evil and free their souls." said The Light as Ruby's eyes grew wider.

The Shadow noticed this and decided to put an end to this but was only met with Crescent Rose slicing at him. The Shadow jumped back before the scythe chopped his head.

"What are you doing, Ruby? What's wrong?" asked Yang going to her sister in worry.

"Stand back. She's being manipulated." said The Shadow

Ruby looked up, her eyes clouded with whatever The Light had done. She jumped towards The Shadow slicing at him with her scythe and blinding speed. The vigilante was on the run, dodging and ducking under the attacks. The routine of fighting back was pushed back as he knew that the young girl was not in her right mind.

"Ruby, Stop!" yelled Yang

"It is no use, she has seen the light." said The Light causing Yang to look at her. "The pure souls of the people are trapped in those decaying bodies. They can only be saved from that corruption through the discarding their prisons, only then will their sins be purified, to end their torment."

"That's not true!" screamed The Shadow "You cannot kill people for something like that."

"You yourself claim to be an instrument of justice, but you allow such filth to live. And souls like her's to be exposed to such things." said The Light

"All those people that you've killed didn't do anything yet. All I am concerned with is if they commit a crime or not." said The Shadow catching Ruby's blade before shattering it in two. "They must pay for their actions and choices, know that crime bears bitter fruit."

The words that Yang was hearing echoed and made sense to her, and right now she knew that the woman before her wasn't her mother. With her fists tightened Yang launched herself at The Light attempting to punch her. The Light wasn't able to react in time and received a punch that sent her flying. Once she landed whatever she did to Ruby was undone. Ruby fell to the ground almost like she had just been dropped out of bed.

The Shadow turned to see what had happened and saw how Yang's hair was lit like a fireball.

"I don't know what is going on or who they are, but you are not my mom." said Yang

The Light began to slowly get back up and The Shadow got between Yang and her. Guns ready to take her out.

"If you continue to fight I will destroy you, but if you surrender to the authorities they might show you mercy." said The Shadow

"You dare mock divine justice and protect a sinner. This isn't over!" said The Light before blasting a great light.

The Shadow tried his best to cover both Ruby and Yang with shadows and after a full minute the light ceased. Once it ended The Light was gone and only The Shadow, Yang and Ruby remained on the rooftop. Yang quickly went to her sister worried for her wellbeing.

"Ruby come on, sis. Stay with me." said Yang

"Yang, mom was just there. Did you see her?" asked Ruby "I heard her voice."

"No Ruby, that wasn't mom." said Yang but The Shadow knew that The Light had done something to her mind.

"Yes she was. She spoke about our souls." said Ruby

The Shadow went towards Ruby and kneeled to her eye level. Looked her straight in the eyes. She gazed into his eyes and began hearing his words.

"Ms. Rose, the words that echoed in your mind were not your mother's. You will forget this night and that woman." said The Shadow as his hypnotic red eyes glowed through his goggles.

Ruby's eyes closed and fell asleep. The Shadow got up and allowed Yang to get ahold of her sister.

"Ruby...Ruby." said Yang

"She'll be fine, but you should go now." said The Shadow

Ruby's eyes snapped back open and she inhaled a large breath.

"Yang, what happened? Where are we?" asked Ruby

"Ruby, you okay?" asked Yang

"I think I had a bad dream. OH MY GOSH CRESCENT ROSE IS BROKEN!" said Ruby with tears in her eyes.

Yang looked back at The Shadow only to find that he was nowhere to be found.

* * *

Lamont had returned to the mansion with as much questions as when he started.

"You don't look too happy." said Bruce giving Lamont a glass of water.

"She managed to escape, and she messed with the mind of Ms. Rose. I need to be better prepared for the next fight." said Lamont

"Then I guess we better start." said Bruce "Any questions?"

"In that case, what can you tell me about Shamba-La?" asked Lamont


	17. Castle On The Hill

Lamont waited patiently as he arranged his thoughts. He could feel his heart beating as the question he wanted to ask inched closer to to the tip of his tongue. After his battle with The Light, Lamont wanted to know more about his powers and of their origin. If what The Light had said was true then his grandfather would have the answers that he needed.

"I need to know about where our powers come from," said Lamont "I need to know how can I do these things. Are there others like our family? What is this place called Shamba-La?"

Bruce nodded in understanding before heading to the wall of the hidden room. He traced his hand across the wall until he found the crack that he was looking for. Bruce closed his eyes and there was a click noise behind the crack. The wall opened up as if it were a vault and inside the vault was what Bruce was looking for. Bruce reached in with both hands as he pulled out an old black book with a worn spots on the back, cover and spine. He walked back to the table where Lamont waited for him.

"Lamont, history is often written by the victors and those in power. Making events seem more important than they really were," said Bruce before opening the book before Lamont. "But there are some that write the hidden history, our family is one of those."

Lamont looked at the illustrations and texts from the books as Bruce continued to talk. The illustrations showed a man covered in a dark aura with a sinister smile on his face, surrounded by the laughing skulls of the damned.

"Countless years ago, a man by the name of Kent Allard was a skilled assassin. A man that was easily so evil, that even the devil himself banned him from his domains," said Bruce flipping the pages of the book. "One day, he found himself with the end of his life. Wounded and hunted by his enemies, he came across a dark tunnel deep in the highest mountains of the land."

The page of the book showed the wicked man traversing the tunnel as the cold storm raged outside. The walls of the tunnel were dark and the only light laid at the end of the tunnel.

"A great door laid before Kent Allard, he reached to open it but someone stopped him. From the shadows a man wearing a metallic bamboo hat and a blue monk's robe held Allard's hand," said Bruce as he flipped the pages. "He explained what this place was."

"Shamba-La," said Lamont interrupting.

"Yes. The monk told him that beyond the gate laid death or redemption," said Bruce flipping the page once more. "Allard looked around the chamber and saw that it was littered with the bones of many that had come before him. Kent Allard wished to continue living, but was unsure of what would happen to him should he accept the monk's redemption."

The text showed Kent Allard surrounded by corpses with only the monk and the door standing before him. The door had red markings that turned into circles, and in the center of the door there were two black doorknobs. Kent Allard reached for the door but hesitated and looked at the monk.

"Allard asked the monk what would happen if he went on with his offer. The monk told him that he'd suffer more than he ever thought possible, but through it he'd find enlightenment and a path," said Bruce "Kent reached for the door once more without hesitation and pushed it open. A blinding light blasted though him, making him feel like his very soul was burning. He felt every stab, every shot, every punch and every wound he had ever dealt on to others throughout his life. The experience lasted what felt like a life time until he found himself inside the realm of Shamba-La."

In the text, the illustration showed Kent Allard that resembled a large paradise garden with ancient buildings. Monks and masters trained on the base of the temple. Trees seemed to grow and levitate with large glowing boulders. The rivers glowed with a bright light. And high in the sky a blue ball of fire illuminated the place.

"Kent Allard asked and begged the masters to teach him their ways as he desired to right his wrongs. He went through a hellish training not unlike the one that you and I went through. Allard found his path to redemption. But he was not alone," said Bruce causing Lamont to raise his eyebrow in curiosity. "Aside of Allard there were two other students. A man by the name of Osma and a woman by the name of Esclarmonde. They were his seniors and as such he showed them respect, but he did not agree with them. They saw themselves as the ones that would lead the people to a brighter future."

"What happened to them?" asked Lamont looking at the illustrations of both Osma and Esclarmonde.

"After years of training, the masters got all of them together and told them that their time on this realm was coming to an end. Osma wanted to expand the teachings of Shamba-La to the world as them as the ones in power. Esclarmonde believed that they should route out all evil to protect the innocent," said Bruce turning the page. "But Kent Allard was against those ideals. He once believed himself to be unstoppable, but his training and time in Shamba-La allowed him to see past his sins and actions. He knew he wasn't a good man, but he also knew that he wasn't a god to decide the fate of the world. Allard decided to return to the world, to live his life and stop as much of the darkness of the world that he could and he passed down his knowledge to his lineage."

"What happened to the other two students?" asked Lamont having started to breakdown the information that he heard.

"It doesn't say, all that it does is that Allard found out that they disappeared and the temple was abandoned. It is still there but he sealed it to ensure that no one would learn the secrets of the masters," said Bruce

"So, The Light must've been a descendant of one of those two students," said Lamont putting his hand on his face. "I have to find her."

* * *

In Vale PD, Pat wasn't having a good day. He and the rest of the building had gathered in the main conference room as chief Galespy had instructed them.

"Alright boys, listen up. Over the last couple of months crime has been going down, but there are areas where it has been steady. The areas around Small Haven, Dragon's Tooth and Old Town have been going to hell," said chief Galespy "Most of these attacks have been done by small gangs and crooks. But the interesting thing is that they have been rotating. Any ideas as to why?"

"The attacks have forced some of the locals to sell their places since their workers are too scared to work," said an officer "Since Torchwick's attack two months ago the Lien press had to move out."

"Yes, that's true. Oddly enough, the man that purchased the building was none other than Shiwan Khan," said Galespy before pulling up a sketch. "However, in surrounding areas crime is at low key as some say. But sadly it hasn't been by police presence. It has been because of Vales very own vigilante, The Shadow as he calls himself."

Pat gritted his teeth at the name. The Shadow had made them look incompetent more times than one, and some people made him look like a hero. He betted that he was behind these strange crimes as well as a beacon for the other monsters and criminals. Many people tended to ignore him as he often kept to killing criminals and gang members and the occasional White Fang moron dumb enough to break into Vale to spread its movement. Pat had been trying to arrest him over and over again, but he always found a way to escape capture. However before Pat could go any further, another officer decided to speak his mind.

"Sir, I know this might be a bit of a touchy subject but what if we started working with The Shadow?" said an officer.

"Are you nuts?" asked Pat irritated by the officer's suggestion. "This man takes the law into his own hands and makes officers look inadequate. He has killed countless people. No one is above the law in this kingdom. Understood?"

"Yes, detective," said the officer.

"Be that as it may, detective Finnegan. Instead of chasing a vigilante that so far has proven quite elusive, we should find out why these areas are being attacked," said chief Galespy "I want all patrols on those areas to try to arrest one of these hoods and bring them here. We need to find out why they're attacking placed like the Dragon Tooth energy generators and the Old Town water plant. Places this city and the people living in it need to survive. That is the priority, boys."

Before the talk was over a man entered the room carrying a brown briefcase. The man in the middle of the room was young, had a pair of black circular glasses, blond pulled back hair, he wore a white suit and black tie. This man was Councilman Arthur Reeves. A brilliant young politician that despite his skills always seemed to be after something. He always seemed to have a smile on his face and a smug sense of dress.

He was the ambition that every man had personified, but not a very bright one in Galespy's mind.

"Good day gentlemen," said Arthur

"Councilman Reeves? I thought I told you that you cannot barge into my station without any good reason," said Chief Galespy slightly irritated by the councilman's actions.

"And I do have one, I have this signed request/petition which demands the arrest of vigilante The Shadow. Many concerned citizens have made it their mission to demand him be brought to justice," said Reeves holding out the paper. "You'll see that here are all the needed signatures."

Galespy began looking through the paper and even though it was all in order, there was something fishy that he couldn't get his hands on. The people signing this petition were oddly enough the owners of the places being sold along, with members of different political parties. Galespy knew that Reeves was up to something, but he couldn't nail him just yet.

However, before he could say anything Reeves opened his mouth once more.

"Of course, I am sure that the people will understand when you fail," said Reeves with a slimy smile.

"Excuse me?" asked Pat.

"Well, I'm just saying that given your department's history of inefficiency and tendency to bend rules would give people a good reason to not put their faith in you. But I am merely a humble messenger, you may take my words however you want," said Reeves getting the officers riled up.

"Now look here-" began Pat angry as a bull after eating spiked roasted chilies.

"Thank you for your concern, councilman. But I can assure you that we'll do everything in our power to bring The Shadow in should we cross him," said Galespy breaking off the beginnings of a fist fight, not that he'd been opposed to one. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to stop messing with my officers. Good day."

"Very well," said Reeves with a smug smile. "But I'll be back if I feel you are being inadequate."

Councilman Reeves left the station shortly afterwards knowing that his job was done, for now.

"I hate that guy," said Pat

"As do many others Pat, but we can't let him yank us around. We are meant to uphold the law, not his whims," said Galespy to Pat. "We'll bring in The Shadow, but we also have to stop these attacks."

"Understood chief." said Pat

* * *

Reeves was driving his brand new model car with a slimy smile on his face. Right then a caller called him in his scroll.

"Hello, this is councilman Reeves speaking," answered Reeves a little too proud of his title.

 _"Did you deliver the document?"_

"Yes, sir. Everything is set in motion," said Reeves "Are we sure that this is the right move? Pitting the police against The Shadow?"

 _"Are you questioning me, Reeves?"_

"What? No, sir! I'd never do something like that," responded Reeves, afraid out of his mind. "I was just curious."

 _"Curiosity is a dangerous thing, Reeves. Don't mettle with my affairs, just stick to being a politician. I didn't put you there for your own good."_

The call ended. Reeves wouldn't admit it but he was sweating so much that he could almost swim in it.

* * *

Night had fallen and The Shadow was out on the prowl for clues as to the identity of The Light. He had searched the last area where they fought but the trail lead him nowhere.

From what he recalled from Ms. Xiao-Long's words, The Light's name was Summer Rose. Possible alias? But that wasn't enough. Thanks to Margo he was able to find out more about Summer Rose, but according to the records that she found Summer Rose had been dead for 10 years.

Something was wrong if she hadn't aged in the last ten years and acted like that to her own children. This meant that The Light must've been using a skill learnt in Shamba-La to do this.

The Shadow looked through the entire city the entire night, but he didn't get any luck. Now he was posed on top of a church in the Dragon Tooth district to collect his thoughts.

"Where the hell are you?" asked The Shadow to himself. "I've searched the city top to bottom. She must've gone underground."

Just as The Shadow was about to call it a night a loud 'skreech' could be heard below. The vigilante looked down to see a group of armed thugs stopping their car and robbing the jewelry store in front of the church.

"Vale you fickle mistress," said The Shadow before leaping towards the criminals.

Down on the street, the group of armed criminals had busted through the windows of the shop and were holding the workers and customers at gun point. The adrenaline was rushing through the criminals as they were on a schedule.

"Come on, move it!" called one of the thugs aiming his rifle at the manager. "We ain't got all day!"

The workers did as the criminals ordered, but their actions were cut abruptly by a sinister laugh.

 _ **MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...!**_

The lights of the store turned off and a pair of red eyes shun through the darkness. The criminals cowered in fear as they tried to find the source of the laugh. One by one The Shadow took them out from the darkness.

He grabbed the rifle of the first one and slammed it in his face before shattering the glass box with the criminal's face. The Shadow then jumped towards one of the criminals that aimed his gun at an employee and slammed the taser into his throat. Once those two were down the vigilante turned to another one of the criminals that was holding a Faunus woman hostage.

"Step back man, or I'll kill her," said the criminal thug aiming his pistol at the woman's temple.

The Shadow slowly got up and stepped between the other employees and the criminals.

"If you want to aim a gun at somebody, aim it at me," said The Shadow in a stern tone. "Because if you hurt her, you won't live long enough to regret it."

"Don't come any closer!" called the man stepping back. "I'll do it man, I will! Damn it, the boss never said this would happen."

"Boss?" asked The Shadow

The woman looked scared and was fighting to hold back the tears. This was not missed by the vigilante. Knowing that the situation would worsen for the poor hostage, The Shadow took action. He began to create an illusion of several Shadows moving in a circle causing the criminal to become frightened.

"Step back! STAY BACK I TELL YOU!" said the criminal aiming the different illusions.

The Shadow took the opening. He snatched the gun from the thug's hand and then twisted it breaking the arm. The thug released the hostage. The Shadow then threw the criminal out through the front door.

"Are you alright?" asked The Shadow to the woman.

"Yes, thank you," responded the woman.

The Shadow looked at the other employees with a stern look.

"Call the authorities, I'll have some words with them," said The Shadow calmly before going to the downed criminal. The Shadow grabbed the criminal by the helm of his shirt. "Alright scum, tell me who put you up to this. Why hold these people hostage and not take the jewels? Answer me, before I get rough."

"We were just hired to hit this place, *ARK* and make a lot of noise," said the criminal afraid out of his mind.

"WHO hired you?" asked The Shadow staring at him with red glowing eyes.

Just then The Shadow heard a car driving away. The driver was one of the criminals and was making a quick getaway. The Shadow punched the downed criminal and fired his grappling hook to chase the car.

The car drove fast going into the different districts of Vale. The Shadow meanwhile was running as fast as he could while swinging through the air. The Shadow jumped at the roof of the car. Once he landed he began beating the windshield with the butt of his pistol. The glass shattered causing the driver to turn and flip into the air. The Shadow jumped off just in time and landed on his feet. The Shadow rushed to the car and pulled out the driver.

"Who are you? Why did you attack the store?" asked The Shadow

"Khan...says...that...'the game's...a..foot'..." said the criminal in pain before passing out

This caused The Shadow's eyes to widen.

A large light casted down upon The Shadow. A police bullhead watched from above at the scene and more patrols arrived at the scene. The Shadow looked at the street name and noticed that he had been baited into going to Dragon's Tooth. Pat got out of the car and aimed his gun at The Shadow.

"Shadow put your hands in the air and step away from the vehicle!" called Pat ready to shoot the vigilante where he stood.

The Shadow slowly got back to his feet as more and more officers circled around him. The vigilante narrowed his eyes as he scolded himself for falling for such a trap. He'd have to forget about The Light for the moment and focus on destroying Shiwan Khan.

"You've got the wrong man detective," said The Shadow looking for a way out. "We're on the same side."

"Sorry if I don't believe you, put your hands in the air where I can see them," said Pat getting closer to The Shadow.

The Shadow took this chance to drop a smoke bomb creating a small explosion. The police stepped back from shock and that's the moment The Shadow put into motion his escape.

The dark clad vigilante rushed quickly towards one of the patrols and jump kicked the officer blocking him. Another one of the officers began firing, but he missed his target. The Shadow grabbed hold of a trash can and flung it at the officer, hitting him right in the face. Another officer tried to attack The Shadow but he punched him in the face before kneeling him in the stomach. The Shadow fired his grappling gun and flew up to the roof top with ease. The light from the bullhead swiftly moved towards The Shadow and kept him from disappearing. The remaining officers opened fire on the vigilante but only managed to grace the cape and suit.

"Everyone, after him!" ordered Pat getting into the patrol and driving after the vigilante.

The Shadow continued to flee from the police and ran towards one of the large construction sites hoping for a better escape plan. He jumped high through the air towards it, but a shot from the bullhead cut through the air. The Shadow felt a great pain pierced his left shoulder. The unbalanced created by the shot made the vigilante roll to the landing.

The light of the bullhead kept the area illuminated, but it casted enough darkness to hide the fugitive vigilante.

Pat and his officers arrived on the scene and quickly began to go into the site. All the officers made sure to have their weapons ready in case a firefight began. Everyone reached the floor where The Shadow had landed but due to the light they were unable to get a good look.

"Be careful. I want him alive," said Pat searching for The Shadow.

There was no trace of The Shadow, but then the light of the bullhead was shattered by a hammer. Everyone was blinded temporarily but that was all The Shadow needed.

The Shadow tackled one of the officers from behind before swiping another one off of his feet and elbowing him on the stomach. He quickly got back up in time to dodge some of the bullets headed his way. The Shadow then fired his grappling hook atone of the crates behind Pat and the officers. With a mighty pull, the crate flew from the back taking out several of the officers. Pat fell to the ground in pain as The Shadow held his left shoulder in pain. He then rushed towards the window firing a couple of times at the bullhead. The officers in the bullhead pulled out of the way just as Pat got back to his feet.

Pat took to running after The Shadow, but before he could catch him, he jumped out of the way. Pat fell from the building, screaming from fear. The Shadow jumped down after him and caught his hand and then fired his grappling hook to the bullhead. They both flew high until they reached the nearby rooftop. The Shadow dropped Pat on the rooftop and then jumped down into the darkness of the back alley. Pat looked down at the alley and punched the concrete in anger.

* * *

The next day Councilman Arthur Reeves called for a press conference. Many people had gathered and sadly amongst them were Lamont, Margo, chief Galespy, and Pat who was still grumbling for what happened last night.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Vale, our city is being consumed by the terrorist acts from a vicious vigilante! How long will we allow such acts to go unnoticed or unanswered?! The police won't do nothing and the city's fate is left to chance!" said Reeves like any good politician.

"Councilman Reeves, for all that's worth, several of your legislations have cut the budget of the police department by nearly half. Which hasn't allowed us to hire more cops," said Galespy putting holes into Reeves's argument.

"Even so chief, detective Pat Finnegan's actions not only caused the vigilante to escape, injured a great part of the force but also destroyed the new construction of a hospital," said Reeves causing the crowd to boo at Pat. "If the police don't take any action we'll be at the mercy of the unstable whims of a vigilante."

Back amongst the crowd, Lamont and Margo listened to every word that Reeves' was saying and they weren't liking it.

"You think that he's puffing smoke or something?" asked Margo

"I think he's working for Khan, the police were on high alert around the city looking for trouble and the information he's got hasn't hit the papers yet," said Lamont "He's doing this to undermine Pat and put the police in a bad light. Reeves is too damn full of himself to think of something like this."

"Yeah, because that's something an unstable person would do," said Margo as a bad joke. "I'm joking by the way, you're the most stable person I know. I swear."

"Thank you Margo," said Lamont looking at how Reeves was playing the crowd.

"Yeah, but I think we should talk to Pat, he doesn't look so good," said Margo looking at Pat's angry face.

"But, what about-" began Lamont only to be cut off by Margo

"He's your best friend, and you have to comfort him. After all he's in this position because of you," said Margo being the Jimmy Cricket on Lamont's shoulder.

Lamont wouldn't show it but he did feel guilty about Pat's position. They were both fighting against crime, but each on their own terms. After what happened the other night, he knew that he had to choose his allies quickly.

"You're right," said Lamont with a sigh. "I'll go talk to him."

* * *

Pat was going nuts after leaving the conference, he had been made a poster-child for police incompetence. Months of constant failures and close calls were putting him on edge. He was in his office soaking up a bottle of Vacuo Firewater and thinking of how much he'd enjoy shooting someone or something.

At that moment, Lamont entered the office.

"Is it safe to come in?" asked Lamont showing only his head through the door.

"Yes," said Pat putting down the bottle. "Don't worry, I took the bullets out."

Lamont entered the room, carefully.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," said Lamont sheepishly.

"Not unless you're against a drink. What can I help you with?" asked Pat

"I came to see how you're doing. You took some heavy blow back there," said Lamont sincerely.

"Yeah, that SOB played them like a fiddle. I still don't know how he found out all those things," said Pat in thought. "He must have a mole or something."

"Don't worry man, you'll find out what's going on," said Lamont assuredly. "And don't worry about the jackass. Even if The Shadow saved your life you can still do your thing."

At that moment, Pat's eyes widen at those words. He looked at Lamont but then shook his head. Lamont would've never had betrayed him but one of his reporters could've. Pat got back up and walked out the door.

"Thanks Lamont, I think I'll do that. In fact you just gave me an idea." said Pat before leaving the room.

Lamont smiled not knowing what would befall the night for him and Pat.

* * *

The Shadow had tracked down the home of Councilman Arthur Reeves in the hope that he'd lead him to Shiwan Khan.

"Come on you smug bastard," said The Shadow staking out the place.

A few minutes later, the vigilante spotted Reeves driving out of the garage. The car reached the street and began to drive off. The Shadow chased after it but he was unaware that he wasn't the only one. A good distance back was a black muscle car driving right behind them. The driver was none other than detective Pat Finnegan.

"Lead me to your real boss Reeves, and then I'll have a good excuse to punch you," said Pat as he followed his target.

* * *

The two enforcers of the law followed to the councilman through the highway until he took a few turns through the back roads.

They had made it to the borders of the kingdom, an old restored castle was the destination. The castle was made of large stones deep inside the mountain. An old remain from the days of the Kings of Vale, some historians have said that under the castle there were some tunnels that reached all the way to Vale. Most of them had collapsed over time and others were sealed because Ozpin and his cabal deemed them Grimm hazardous. Now these castles stood as historical marks of a time long past.

But this castle was anything but inactive or haunted. The Shadow landed on a tall branch and found that there were armed men patrolling the entrance.

"So much for an empty castle," said The Shadow as Reeves parked his car.

The councilman got out and held his hands up as two guards walked out to escort him. The Shadow watched as they took him inside and quickly followed them by obscuring their minds. He climbed up the wall and then knocked out two of the guards before entering the castle.

Down below, Pat had parked his car and snuck up to the door. Pat knocked on the door making a guard to step outside. The guard stepped outside and Pat whacked him over the head with the butt of his pistol. Pat dragged the knocked out guard before taking his uniform and entering the castle.

The Shadow entered the corridors, keeping himself from sight. Just then he spotted more and more armed men walking towards the deeper parts of the castle. He followed them from behind and found the large base of operations of this place. Inside a large cave, several platforms held armed men training, armed vehicles such as tanks and bullheads, and a massive command center with several computers surrounding a throne. On the throne was none other than Shiwan Khan.

"By the gods. What is this place?" asked The Shadow in his mind.

Down below he spotted Reeves walking towards Khan. The Shadow jumped down as quietly as he could and as he made his way to where the two men were, he spotted one monitor that showed a map of Vale with the different areas that had been attacked.

"Everything is in position Mr. Khan," said Reeves

"Excellent councilman Reeves. Despite The Shadow and the White Fang's interference we still have more than enough for our mission. Once we begin we'll have this kingdom at our fingertips. But don't worry, you'll be safe," said Khan stepping down from his throne. "As long as you don't get ahead of yourself."

Reeves gulped knowing that Khan was not known by empty threats.

Meanwhile, The Shadow heard every word and decided to kill this dream while he still can. He spotted a man wearing the uniform of the armed men, but he walked differently. The Shadow snuck up behind the man and dragged him into one of the rooms before aiming his pistol at his throat.

"Start talking, who are you really?" asked The Shadow "You're not one of these mercenaries."

The man took off his mask and revealed himself to be Pat.

"I'm detective Pat Finnegan of Vale PD. I knew that Reeves was up to something, but not this," said Pat

"Then what do you say to blowing up this place before they get their way. Like I said we're on the same side," said The Shadow letting go of Pat.

Pat was clearly conflicted by the situation, but he had no choice.

"Fine, but don't expect any favors from me," said Pat "Once these scumbags are behind bars, I'll cuff you myself."

The two men went to the armory room and began to work. The Shadow and Pat began to work on all the ammunitions and rigged them to explode, but they needed to spread them around the castle base. In order to do that, they'd need a distraction.

"You distract them, I'll spread the bombs" said The Shadow

"No offense but how do I know you won't escape while I'm not looking?" asked Pat "I'll spread the bombs, you distract them. But leave Reeves alive, he's mine."

The Shadow sighed knowing that he wouldn't change Pat's mind. So, instead of arguing he gave the bombs to Pat and pulled out his pistols.

"Don't take any risks." said The Shadow before disappearing.

Back down with Shiwan Khan and Reeves he had just been talking about his plans after overthrowing Vale.

"Once this kingdom is under my control, I'll extend my reach to the rest of the world," said Khan gripping his fist as if he held the world in his hand already. "Now if we could get that lunatic to work for us complacently."

 _ **MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...!**_

"Speaking of lunatics," said Khan as bullets flew through the air taking out some of the guards. "Get our guest out of here."

The guards that brought Reeves grabbed him and jumped with him into one of the tubes and managed to get away.

The armed men of the base began firing back at The Shadow but to no avail as he far too quickly for them to get a clear shot at him. The Shadow continued to run through the cave causing chaos.

While this was happening, Pat did as they planned and began planting bombs all over the base. Just then one of the armed soldiers spotted Pat causing him to drop the bombs that he still had and fire at one of them. The explosion caused a chain reaction with the other bombs. Pieces of debris and equipment began to fall all over the place. The armed men tried to escape as fast as they could but many weren't so lucky.

The Shadow managed to get back down to face none other than Shiwan Khan.

"Khan, your terror comes to an end for crime bares bitter fruit!" called The Shadow sternly aiming his pistols at him.

"Shadow, good to finally meet you in person. You should try your hand at poetry with your sentences," asked Khan putting on a pair of gloves on his hands.

The Shadow charged at Khan who did the same. The Shadow fired at the criminal mastermind. Khan jumped high in the air dodging the attack and then brought down an ax kick. The Shadow stepped back allowing the attack to cause a small crater. He then countered by throwing a counter clockwise kick to Khan. Khan blocked it with his left arm. The Shadow used this opportunity to aim his pistols at his opponent and open fire. Khan moved his head side to side avoiding the bullets. The Shadow jumped back to then deliver a smack across Khan's face. Khan spat the blood and then uppercutted The Shadow back. The Shadow tried to stand back up but Khan charged at him with a flying kick. The Shadow was sent flying to the edge of the platform, where he barely regained his footing.

Khan tried to fight once more but a massive stalagmite fell between him and his target.

The cave was collapsing all around them, even if they could still take out the other, they'd be buried underneath the rubble. Both The Shadow and Khan looked at each other and acknowledged, 'next time'.

Khan rushed to one of the many escape routes of the cave while The Shadow went after Pat.

The Shadow spotted Pat hanging onto a bent steel beam for dear life. The Shadow jumped forward as fast as he could and caught Pat by the hand. He pulled him back to a platform.

"We must leave this place!" said The Shadow as he and Pat ran out of the place.

Just then the two found an escape route, but just as they were about to grab hold of it a large boulder on top of Pat and The Shadow. Pat pushed the Shadow out of the way leaving himself buried under the rubble. The dark clad vigilante turned to see what had happened and saw in horror.

"NO!" screamed Lamont/ The Shadow as he began to move the stones out of the way.

As everything collapsed around them, The Shadow was able to move most of the rubble off of Pat. Sadly his legs were in pretty bad shape.

"Come on, we must get out of here!" said The Shadow as Pat coughed.

"No, you've got to stop them," said Pat weakly as he pulled out his scroll. "They moved their stuff to another place, and they are still alive. Take this, show it to my boss. Bring that bastard down."

The Shadow begrudgingly grabbed the scroll. But then the floor underneath them gave in. Pat fell with The Shadow screaming for the loss of his friend. He reached out hoping to catch him but to no avail. Another explosion happened before The Shadow, sending him back into the escape tunnel.

The tunnel took him at great speed out of the castle. The Shadow couldn't tell where he was going, everything was dark and all the wind only showed him that he was traveling fast. After what felt like an eternity in the dark The Shadow was thrown back into the light.

The Shadow slowly got back up and found himself standing in the docks area near the sea. He looked back to the city and was able to put it together, but something else occupied his mind.

The death of his best friend.

The Shadow looked to the scroll and gripped it with all the strength he could muster without breaking it. He fell to his knees before releasing an enraged roar at the top of his lungs. He swore to himself on that very night as the rain began to fall, never again.


	18. Khan Rises

The sky was filled with story clouds when The Shadow returned to his base and delivered the news to both Bruce and Margo. Margo teared her eyes out while Lamont punched the ground over and over again. Bruce meanwhile began going over the information that Pat had gotten on his scroll. He might've been quiet but all the while he was angry.

After analyzing the scroll's memory, Bruce called Lamont in to tell him about it.

"I know what it is that Pat got. This video recording shows everything that happened in the cave, as well as every little detail he could find about Reeves' history of embezzlement, manipulation of evidence, and extortion," said Bruce showing Lamont the video. "With this, Reeves will go away for a long time."

"He doesn't deserve that," said Margo from behind them. "That man vilified Pat and laughed while others suffered. He deserves what comes to him."

"Believe me Margo, I would love nothing more than to kill him," admitted Lamont "But Pat would want him to go down by the book. I'll give a copy of this information to his chief, and then Reeves is mine."

Lamont and Bruce then began looking over one of the old maps of Vale's early days to see where the tunnels each lead to. Each of the tunnels actually had exits on the different areas where Khan had purchased locations. That was why the locations ha been captured and purchased by Shiwan Khan as past of his plan.

* * *

Chief Galespy walked into his old house, tiered as hell. The week had been a disaster. First, Councilman Reeves managed to get the media on his side to hound him and the police. Then Pat disappears from the face of the planet. And now the mysterious destruction of one of the ruin castles made him feel like something bad was about to happen.

"Some times I feel too old for this." said Galespy with a tiered sigh.

Galespy placed his badge and gun on the table. He walked towards the refrigerator for a drink. After taking a sip of his beer, Galespy felt that something was wrong. In a split second he grabbed hold of his pistol and turned to face his unexpected visitor. The man in question was none other than The Shadow.

"Chief Galespy, we need to talk," said The Shadow calmly.

"The Shadow, I was not expecting you here," said Galespy not lowering his gun. "If you're here to give yourself up, I'd kindly ask you to go to the station. I am a little tiered at the moment."

"It is imperative that I speak with you, chief Galespy," said The Shadow taking out Pat's scroll from one of his pockets. "I have here evidence that detective Finnegan gave up his life for. He told me to give it to you."

"What happened to him? Why should I believe you?" asked Galespy not lowering his gun from The Shadow's spot.

"Because detective Finnegan wanted it like this. And I won't deny his final request," said The Shadow holding out the scroll to Galespy.

Galespy reached for the scroll, keeping his eyes on The Shadow the whole time. The noises of the lights and the insects outside where the only thing that made any form of sound as the two men stared at each other.

"How do I know this isn't rigged?" asked Galespy with suspicion.

"I suppose you don't," replied The Shadow with a calm tone.

Galespy looked at the Shadow for a little longer and then grabbed hold of the scroll. He lowered his pistol as he examined the scroll, making sure it was the real deal. The chief of police looked at the dark clad vigilante with focused eyes, sharpened by years of experience.

"I've been around some time now, and I've seen almost all sorts of people. But you are one of the most intriguing," said Galespy looking at The Shadow. "According to my men you are the kind of man that doesn't waste his time with the police. And yet you came here to give me this. Why?"

"All I do is bring those that commit crimes to justice. To make sure people see that crime only bares bitter fruit," said The Shadow as he started walking into the darkness. "I am no saint, but if there are wrongs I will not turn away from them. The times men could use others and then crush them under their heel for their own dark desires is over. We will meet again chief Galespy."

The Shadow disappeared before Galespy's eyes. The old police chief put down his pistol and placed it on the table.

"At least he didn't disappear while I was talking. Hopefully next time we meet I won't have to aim this at him," said Galespy before opening the scroll. "Now let's see what we've got here."

* * *

Reeves entered the Councilman chambers at Vale's supreme court. He had gotten the paperwork done for his boss and was feeling at the top of the world. Now all he had to do was stay out of trouble.

"Reeves!" called a voice from behind Reeves.

Arthur Reeves turned in time to see Councilman York walking towards him. He didn't have a good look on him and carried a paper in his hand.

"A York what can I do for you?" asked Arthur

"What the hell does this mean Reeves? According to this paper you just allowed the purchase of several buildings that moderate electricity and water in the city," said York furious as all hell.

"I don't see the problem with it, York," said Reeves. "The papers show that everything was legal. The owners wanted to sell and the buyers had all the credentials."

"While the plants were still working? Do you realize that those buyers were all shell companies?" asked York "You do not speak for the council, I'll have this transaction stopped immediately."

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Martin," said Reeves. "All has gone through. Councilman Jane Madea has signed the proposals and the transactions had ended. The new guys are in charge. Also I'm afraid that you won't be around for much longer."

"What's that suppose to mean?" asked York.

"Some changes are coming, and with that I bid you good bye." said Reeves leaving York with a smug smile.

York looked at Reeves with utter hate before leaving for his office. He pulled his scroll and called a number. This was his last hope to stop whatever Reeves was scheming about.

"Hello? It's me, we need to meet. It's an emergency. Same place, one hour," said York before hanging the call. "I don't know what you're after Reeves, but I won't let you destroy this kingdom."

* * *

Reeves smiled to himself as he made it back to his home. Extorting his fellow councilwoman Jane was easy thanks to the information that Khan had given him. Ruffling York's feathers was just the icing on his own glory cake.

Once he was inside his home he grabbed an apple and a beer feeling good about himself and achievements. The feeling of pride that Arthur Reeves felt in that moment could only be eclipsed by his large ego and belief that he was untouchable. It only seemed like a couple of weeks ago that Reeves was nothing but a sleazy businessman but now he was on the top of the world.

"You seem to be in a cheerful mood, Arthur." called a voice from the entrance of the room.

Arthur turned to see Shiwan Khan. He wore a long black trench coat and a black fedora on top of his usual fancy suit. He wasn't accompanied by any of his bodyguards and just walked into the room with a strong sense of ownership.

"Mr. Khan, I wasn't expecting you here. Can I get you anything?" asked Reeves putting down his snack.

"Don't bother. I only came here to see the status of the purchases," said Khan walking towards Reeves. "Does anyone suspect anything?"

"Don't worry, Mr. Khan. Thanks to your information I was able to put everything in working order," said Reeves pulling out the signed papers. "You and your 'associates' are now owners of all the locals you requested. No need for red tape or nosy lawyers. Now if I could just get my cut of the profits we'll start whenever you-"

"Yeah, I think not," said Khan interrupting while looking at the papers. "I've been thinking about your usefulness Reeves. And I'm afraid that you've outlived your usefulness. Also, your ego is far too volatile to keep in check."

"What? No, Mr. Khan," began Reeves scared out of his mind. "I can still be useful to you! I can help you establish a legal system. Or-or...Or keep people fromm rioting and-and-"

At that moment, the house phone began to ring. The answering machine kicked in and the two men listen to it without moving from their places.

 _"Hello, Arthur this is Jane I just wanted to call you to let you know that I've got the reservations for the flight tomorrow to Mistral. I still can't believe you invited me to this vacation. I kinda feel bad for leaving York all the work but whatever. Call me when you get this."_

Khan looked at Reeves with pure sinister glee.

"Now sir. I-I can explain," said Reeves before Khan gripped him by his shirt.

"Oh, I'm sure. But let me tell you my interpretation of this turn of events. You knew that your time was coming to a close, so you decided to get as much loot as you could and then use that to set yourself for life in another kingdom," said Khan threateningly before slamming Reeves on the table. "I'd applaud your efforts but you are a loose end, and even the smallest loose end can dismantle an operation."

"Please sir," said Reeves crying.

"For a bad nail, the horse shoe failed. For a bad horse shoe, the horse failed. For a failed horse, the message wasn't received," said Khan putting the fear of god on Reeves. "And because the message failed, the war was lost."

All that was heard were the screams of Reeves as everything turned black.

* * *

In Vale's Central Park, during the years of the Great War and the age of espionage, people had come here to meet and discuss things in secret to the point that the ducks would always know when something was going on. Of course there were a lot of normal people doing normal activities taking place in the park.

Councilman Martin York walked to one of the benches near the small lake and sat down. He took out a book and began reading it. On the other side of the bench another man sat down. All that could be seen was that he wore a white cowboy hat.

"It appears that your hunch was correct. Reeves is involved in what has been happening in the city," said York pretending to read.

"I knew there was something fishy about him, his credentials and sudden rise to fate were clear signs of it. I just got information that solidifies my suspicion. The catch is that it came from an unexpected source, which would make it substantial at best," said the man pretending to talk on his scroll. "We need more time."

"I'm afraid that we don't have time. Reeves just got some sketchy investors to get their hands on the different properties that were under attack in the recent months. That cannot be a coincidence," said York with a sigh.

"We have to catch him in the act at this rate," said the man turning.

"Got it G. But we-" began York before his scroll started ringing. "Excuse me. Hello? Jane, is that you? Slow down woman. What happened? I'll be right there!"

York ended the call and got up.

"We need to go to Vale General," said York to Galespy.

"What happened?" asked Galespy

"Reeves was taken to the hospital. Apparently he had an allergic reaction to something," said York as they walked out of the park.

"Why would that kid be foolish enough to eat something that would cause this?" asked Galespy

"He wouldn't," answered York

As the two older men walked out of the park they failed to notice a certain young reporter listening in to their conversation. Margo pulled out her scroll and sent a message to Lamont. He had to get to the hospital if he wanted answers.

* * *

York and Galespy had made it to the hospital and they met up with the doctor that had been taking care of Reeves. However they were not the only ones. Behind them were both Lamont and Margo listening in to their conversation.

"What happened doctor? How did this happened?" asked York hoping to get an answer.

"Well, we received the councilman about 30 minutes ago. He was found by his house keeper and she called the ambulance," said the doctor reading the test results. "The story is that he had an allergic reaction to something, but that's not the case."

"What happened then?" asked Galespy

"He was poisoned by something or someone," answered the doctor. "A strange manufactured poison commonly used in Vacuo known as the Black Sparrow."

"I've heard of this poison. Back in my early days, some triads sold it to the highest bidder," said Galespy

"Thankfully we were able to administer the antidote in time. He should be resting until the toxins run their course," said the doctor.

"Can we speak to him?" asked York

"I wouldn't recommend it, too much excitement could kill him. Better to be left alone." said the doctor.

"I'll get some of my officers here, need to keep this hush hush. We'll come back when he gets better. I need to know who poisoned him. Thank you doctor," said Galespy tipping his hat.

After both councilman York and Galespy left the hospital, Lamont and Margo got out from their hiding spot. The information that they had heard was illuminating and easily a way in to know what Khan was after. It was a slim chance but it was the only chance they had.

"You heard all that?" asked Margo after writing down all that she wrote.

They were still a newspaper after all.

"What do you know about this poison? Why is it so special?" asked Margo with curiosity.

"The poison slowly begins to engulf the throat and slows down blood circulation thus making it seem like the person is singing like a sparrow. The air doesn't come in as easily and the person loses consciousness after a short while," explained Lamont "It was used by assassins that went by the same name in the days of the Sultans of Vacuo to silence their targets."

"So, Khan wanted Reeves to take his secrets to his grave. But him being in the hospital puts him right where I need him," said Lamont as his eyes shun bright red for a brief moment. "He'll give me the answers I want."

"I'd say make him suffer, but we must stop Khan first. If he happens to be alive by then, I get first dibs," said Margo cracking her knuckles. "For our friend."

"Just remember to call both Galespy and York," said Lamont catching Margo by surprise. "We might need some help."

* * *

Stormy clouds covered the night. Reeves laid down on the hospital bed, all the machines connected to him kept the doctors informed of his state. After a close call with death, the councilman just wanted a quiet night sleep.

But that would be the last thing he'd ever get for what was left of his life.

A window was opened up. The wind blew into the room. The councilman began to wake up at the feeling of the cool air. He wasn't sure what was the cause of it but he thought that the mysterious opening window wouldn't be the that big of a deal. What came into the room from the window, was a big deal.

From the window a dark shadowy figure began to appear. The figure grew ever so large until The Shadow's silhouette could be seen through the little light of the moon that there was.

Terror began to crept into Reeves as the dark crime fighter got closer to him.

"Oh, god, no!" said Reeves as he reached for the attention button.

The Shadow grabbed hold of the button and tore it from the wall. He then lifted the bed just enough so that Reeves wouldn't get any ideas.

Reeves tried to speak but only sparrow like sounds came out as he tried to talk or call for help.

"Why did Khan try to poison you? He thinks that you are somehow capable of stoping him and his plans," said The Shadow in the darkest and most serious tone he could muster. "What is he planning?!"

Reeves took air in some deep breaths and then tried to lie his way out.

"I-I don't know," said Reeves only to get pulled by his neck to face The Shadow.

"Don't you dare lie to me." said The Shadow menacingly.

* * *

On the other side of the door, in the hallway were both councilman York and Galespy were walking towards the room.

"Are you sure that anonymous call was serious?" asked York

"We were both called at the same time and we were given the same instructions," said Galespy before noticing the door was slightly open. "I don't think this is a prank."

The two men slowly walked up to the door as quietly as they could. Galespy pulled out his gun and paid close attention to what was happening inside the room.

"I swear-I *cough* don't know *cough* anything about Khan's plans," said Reeves inside his room. "He never gave me all the details."

"I don't believe you. I saw the armed fortress in the mountains," said The Shadow inside the room.

Upon hearing the two voices inside, York pulled out his scroll and began recording the conversation.

"Just in case," said York recording what was being said inside the room.

* * *

The Shadow was more than done playing around with the councilman. He needed answers and he needed them any way he could get them.

"I know that you were in that fortress, the same one that blew up. You were talking to Khan about the purchases that he made through shell companies, the ones you signed off on," said The Shadow who was done with playing games. "He wouldn't have allowed some nobody to handle this transaction. How did you come into his employment? No lies. So give me. The. Answers. I. Want."

Reeves figured out that he was done for. One way or another The Shadow was going to murder him. But maybe, just maybe, he could bargain for a few more moments of life with the information that he still had.

"Khan, he wanted someone on the inside of the council to help him move things smoothly," admitted Reeves. "I had just bought my way through the tests and began working on some deals of a company firm. I got ahold of a big deal going down, so I just decided to skim some from the top. *cough* Khan caught onto me in a couple of days. He hired me and used his influence to get me into the council."

"What was the catch, no way he would've been this generous?" asked The Shadow.

"He wanted me on his pocket to make sure that I wouldn't be against him. I was all for passing the laws and signing the papers that he wanted," said Reeves as the coughs began to water his eyes. "He promised me all I could ever wanted."

"So you sold off the people of Vale to Khan, for a job." said The Shadow holding back the urge of snapping Reeves' neck.

Reeves began to cough loudly es he hoped that someone would hear him and shoot The Shadow.

"*cough* He was going to expose me. *cough* All he said was that he wanted a few favors," said Reeves coughing like a heavy smoker.

"We'll take it from here Shadow," called a voice from behind.

The Shadow turned to see both chief Galespy and councilman York standing behind him.

"Oh, chief Galespy *cough* thank goodness you're here. I was trying to keep him occupied *cough* he's insane," said Reeves believing that he was safe. "Arrest him, now."

"I wouldn't be asking us for any favors now, Mr. Reeves. We heard everything, and we have the evidence to support it," said Galespy holding up Pat's scroll.

"We also taped the entire conversation," said York holding up his scroll. "We'll take it from here Shadow. You should go now."

The Shadow nodded to the two members of the law before jumping out the window.

* * *

The Shadow rushed through the night until he found Khan Industries. If there was one place Khan would in, it would be this one. The windows were covered and only the light could be seen from the very corners.

"You won't get what you're after Khan, I'll make sure of it," said The Shadow jumping off from the roof top.

The Shadow flew through the air until he fired the grappling hook to swing towards the office building. He spotted a few armed guards outside the penthouse office, but they were not going to get in his way.

The Shadow jumped down at the first one and dropped kicked him in the back of the head. The vigilante rolled down on the ground before slamming his gun's butt electrocuting him. He turned the corner and ran towards the third guard using the shadows as cover. When he reached the third guard he sucker punched him with a left before spinning him and throwing him into the penthouse.

The Shadow stepped inside with fierce determination, unholstering his pistols ready to fight. But his eyes showed him that there was no one inside the office. The place was deserted. The Shadow kept looking around but there was no sign of his target being in the room.

Suddenly the phone began to ring. The Shadow went for it and answered the call, making sure that he wouldn't warn however was calling.

 _"Hello, Shadow. I knew that you wouldn't die in such a way. I hope that my welcoming comity lived up to their position. I know that there is no clear love between us. You've been a thorn on my side for quite some time. But I understand, no king ever climbed a mountain without some form of opposition."_

"You think yourself a king?" asked The Shadow "Well, I'm about to give you a harsh awakening."

 _"I'm destined for greatness. A right passed down to me by my ancestors. But to show you that I have no ill feelings towards you, I'm sending a special delivery via airmail. The plane of the future will make you history."_

The Shadow turned around to see that a small flying bullhead went straight at the penthouse. It opened up and several missiles fired upon the penthouse. The vigilante rushed to the other side of the penthouse and jumped out into the night air. The penthouse exploded sending shockwaves that sent The Shadow off course.

The Shadow fell down and tried to grab hold of something to prevent his fall. The adrenaline kicked in as The Shadow shot out his grappling hook and pulled himself to another building. The vigilante began climbing the stairs as the bullheads continued to fire upon him. He ran as fast as he could through the building roof tops.

The Shadow turned around and began firing one of his pistols at one of the bullheads but it wasn't enough. He then turned to the shadows as the bullheads began to catch up to him.

The people underneath it all screamed as the two flying machines searched for their target. The Shadow jumped left and right getting people off of the streets. He moved as quickly as he could snatching a young man out of the way of a round.

"Get people off the streets," said The Shadow to the young man before going after the bullheads.

The Shadow hurried to the top of a building and jumped at one of the bullheads. While holding on to it as tightly as he could he spotted the pilot. He shifted his weight, swinging into the cockpit slamming into the pilot.

Once inside, The Shadow quickly dispatched the remaining flyer with a kick to the face. He then turned the bullhead unto the other one and set it to ram it at full speed. The Shadow opened the side door and jumped out of it in time to see the two machines exploding. He gave a sigh of relief that those things were out of commission, but then something caught his attention.

Far away the borders of the city began blowing up. Large explosions circled around the kingdom as armed vehicles rolled through the streets. Armed mercenaries began to open fire at anything that stood in their way, leaving burning wrecks in their wake. This was Khan's strike.

"No. I failed." said The Shadow in utter despair.

But before he could mourn his defeat, a large light illuminated where The Shadow stood. The vigilante was temporarily blinded, but he recognized the sound of incoming missiles coming at him. He couldn't react fast enough, all the missiles hit their target. The building collapsed and the vigilante was sent flying down amongst the rubble.

* * *

Far in an undisclosed location, Khan watched upon his work.

"Now let the rule of Khan begin." said Khan as the fire illuminated his face.

* * *

In the dark streets of the city a lone car drove off, away from the chaos. Margo was driving as fast as she could for she had a precious cargo. Lamont was down on the backseat, his suit was torn apart, and was bleeding.

"Hang on Lamont, please hang on," said Margo in pure terror.

"Margo..." said Lamont weakly.

"Lamont for once, shut up," said Margo "I'm not losing you. Save your strength."


	19. The Return

Lamont slowly opened his eyes. All he could see were shadows, and a dark stone roof. His body was hurting, unlike anything he had felt before. He grunted as he struggled to pull up his neck to see where he was. Lamont saw that he was on an operating table within the secret base. He had seen the rock and concrete ceiling many times in his life to the point that he recognized it immediately.

Lamont slowly began moving his body, through the pain and the sting of every movement.

"What the hell happened?" Lamont grunted as he slowly got back up.

His body was covered in bandages and a cast for his right leg. He touched his head and felt a couple of bandages wrapped around his forehead, and a few stitches in the back of his head. Lamont couldn't help but wonder what had happened to him. Memories of explosions, flying bullheads and crumbling buildings flooded his mind. He held his hand in pain.

Just then a voice called out to him.

"Lamont," said the voice, a sweet voice.

He turned around and saw Margo coming at him. She looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. He clothes were torn and dirty, and she had cut her hair.

She held on to him and pushed him back to the makeshift bed. She tried to be delicate but Lamont fought her every step.

"Margo? Where... What happened? Khan..." began Lamont, his body rippled with pain.

"Easy there, you've been out for some time. Plus you took a very nasty hit on your head and your leg," Margo said before giving him some water to drink.

"How long was I out?" Lamont asked her as his memories slowly returned.

"You've been out for a few weeks," called an elderly voice.

Lamont and Margo turned to see that it was Lamont's grandfather Bruce. He looked almost the same as Lamont had last seen him. Although he looked like he had not shaved in a long time.

"Not surprising given that a building fell on you after being shot at by Khan's maniacs. But, it is good to see you awake and alive, Lamont," Bruce said in an usually humorous tone before returning to his normal strict tone. "Sadly, these aren't the best of times." He said, pressing a button on the computer.

The screen lit up and it showed that Vale was in ruins. Or at the very least it looked deserted enough to be an old ruin.

Mercenaries patrolled the streets armed with tanks and guns, while people were held inside their home. The sky was black and it was filled with airship blimps that casted down light at the city, accompanied by several bullheads.

Lamont's eyes widen in realization. Khan had won. He had failed.

"What happened?" Lamont asked, holding his fist tightly.

"Shortly after sending the police and his death squad after you, Khan deployed his agents to cut the water, electricity and heat from the rest of the city. Amidst the blackout he cut all communications between Vale, Beacon and the other kingdoms. He has cornered the Huntsmen in their schools with the larger airships, threatening to drop bombs on the city if they don't comply. Khan has established himself as sole executive chief of the city and kingdom," Bruce explained with a heavy heart.

"What about the police, and Chief Galespy?" Lamont asked as he stared at the screen.

"Galespy, Councilman York and most of his officers have been forced underground. We've helped them as much as we could, but Khan's forces are closing in," Bruce said. "I'm afraid they'll be found out soon."

"Then I better get out there and help them," said Lamont taking off some of his bandages.

"You've been bedridden for weeks and now you want to start a revolution? You've yet to fully heal," said Margo

"I can't just sit by. If Khan thinks I'm dead then I can do some good from the shadows," Lamont argued, still feeling the sting of his muscles.

"You'll have to rely on stealth, no revealing your face nor striking fear just yet," Bruce said as Lamont went for his repaired suit.

"Alright, I guess I'm outvoted, just be careful. I don't want to have to stitch you up again so soon," Margo said worried about her friend. "You're welcome for fixing that thing, by the way," She added.

"Thank you, Margo," said Lamont as he began to put on his suit. "But this war of ours, goes on."

* * *

Chief Galespy and the group of officers were pinned down on one of the remaining police buildings that hadn't been destroyed by Khan.

The remaining police officers, that weren't hiding, were trying to find Khan or smuggle some Huntsmen into the city. But that had been proven difficult as Khan held control over the skies. With the little equipment that they had available they had tried their best to find a way to defeat Khan, but they hadn't been so lucky. Most times they would have to retreat or risk getting into a gunfight with better armed forces.

Galespy began firing at the soldiers of Khan.

"These gosh damn mercenaries don't know when to give up," Galespy said as he took cover behind a pillar.

"They've got us surrounded sir," said one of the officers. "What should we do?"

Galespy looked over the pillar to see that a squad of ten armed mercenaries with assault rifles coming from the front.

"Things don't look too good, men," Galespy said. "See if you can find a way out from the back."

"There's a small exit under a bunch of rubble. Swede and Lucky are trying to move it out of the way," said the officer.

"Then we must hold until they do," Galespy said, aiming with his pistol once again.

* * *

Back outside of the building, the mercenaries were getting ready to enter through the door. By any means at their disposal.

"Prepare the charges, we are busting these lap dogs to kingdom come," The leader of the squad said.

The mercenaries got closer to the door with packages of explosives ready to do their job. However, before they could place the explosives, a canister rolled behind them and stopped right in front of them. The mercenaries looked down in confusion before the canister went bang. They struggled to their feet, their eyes were burning, and their ears were buzzing like a rusty chainsaw crackled next to their ears.

From the shadows, The Shadow grabbed hold of one of the mercenaries, dragging him into the darkness. With a quick punch and shot to the chest, the mercenary was down. The vigilante repeated the action, taking down another mercenary. He held on to his side, feeling the sting of his wounds eat at him. He had to gather back his strength or else he wouldn't last long.

The mercenaries were slowly regaining their vision. They looked around and noticed that there were some of their numbers missing.

"Where the hell are red 8 and red 4?" asked the leader of the squad.

The mercenaries turned around to figure out what was happening.

Inside the building, Galespy and his officers were looking from the inside what was happening.

"What's going on?" asked an ox Faunus officer.

"I'm not sure, Bob. But I hope that it's good for us," Galespy said as he moved to get a better look.

Back outside, the mercenaries were looking for the source of their troubles. Then a silenced shot was fired taking down a mercenary, followed swiftly by another.

"We got hostiles! Fire!" the squad leader called out, as he and the remaining five mercenaries opened fire against their attacker.

Bullets flew across the street, tearing apart anything in their path. After a good three minutes of constant fire, the mercenaries stopped. They begun looking for the body of their enemy.

But unbeknownst to the group of deadly assassins, The Shadow had moved through the darkness to avoid being turned into Swiss cheese. He panted as he prepared himself for another battle. He poked his head from behind the car that he was hiding behind and took aim with his pistol. The Shadow spotted that one of the mercenaries had grenades in his belt. With a shot aimed directly at the grenades, the belt exploded taking out three of the remaining mercenaries.

Using the confusion, The Shadow fired his grappling gun, stabbing the mercenary that was the furthest away and pulled him forward, knocking the other two mercenaries. The vigilante pulled out his pistols and fired at two of the mercenaries, taking them out of the fight. He was about to fire another bullet when a great painful shock coursed through his back. He had busted the stitches of his back and was now suffering the consequences.

Just as the last mercenary was about to shoot The Shadow, a gun shot echoed through the street.

The Shadow turned to see the mercenary fall down.

"I figured since you did the heavy lifting, I could take care of this one," Chief Galespy said as he and his officers walked out of the building.

The Shadow stumbled before Bob caught him.

"Easy there buddy," Bob said, helping the vigilante get back his strength.

"Good to see you, Chief Galespy," The Shadow said.

"You look worse for wear, son," Chief Galespy said. "But you are a sight for sore eyes."

"A building coming down on you will do it for you," The Shadow said. "What can I do to help?"

"We've managed to get ahold of some Huntsmen to give us a hand but they are no closer to giving us any results," Chief Galespy began. "Khan has been keeping things armed and isolated. The CCT is being blocked and any and all resources such as water and electricity are being monitored by armed guards 24/7. No signs where Khan may be."

"He only shows up in televised broadcasts," Bob said. "To remind the people that he's in charge."

"You keep trying to recover the water plant and the electric power plants," The Shadow said. "I'll look for Khan."

"Where would you even start? He could be anywhere in the city," Galespy said.

"Not _in_ the city, but above it," The Shadow said, looking at the flying blimps casting light upon the city.

* * *

After his talk with Galespy, The Shadow returned to the mansion. Once there he received medical assistance from Margo and tell them the situation.

"Alright, you should be good for now," Margo said as she finished wiping off the blood.

"Thank you, Margo. But now we have to find the way to stop Khan," Lamont said.

"Any idea on where he could be?" Margo asked.

"Khan isn't the kind of person to hide," Bruce said as he pulled up several shots of the flying blimps. "He is probably up in the sky, making sure to look down on his 'kingdom'."

"But if there's so many of those balloons," Margo said. "And they must all be heavily guarded. Which means aside from finding which one he is in, we have to break in."

"Then let's figure it out, quickly," Lamont said as he looked at the different pictures.

The different zeppelins were pretty much the same in appearance, but all had to do more than just the same thing. From what Lamont could gather, the zeppelins were the reason that no calls could get out of Vale. It had disruptors at the bottom, next to the lights as well as antennas to intercept any of the calls that the students at Beacon tried to make.

* * *

Over the course of another week, Lamont and his team were focused on looking into the information that they could about Khan. They also worked on surveillance on the blimps. Besides the lights, the jammers and the antennas, the blimps were armed with anti-tank weapons. The blimps were being kept flying by a special mixture of fossil fuels along with great reserves of dust energy, which made any attempt to wait for them to fall for fuel a long shot at best.

The Shadow was kneeling on top of a gargoyle on one of the old churches that were still standing. He looked at one of the blimps as it received another shipment of supplies. He took out one of the short hand radios' Bruce had stored to keep things private.

"I think I found how I can get in the blimps," The Shadow said through the radio.

 _"What's the catch?"_ asked Bruce through the radio.

"It appears that those supplies are only accessible to Khan's forces, must be guarded when they land as well," The Shadow said. "I'll look to see how I can get into them,"

 _"You best be careful,"_ Bruce said before they went radio silent.

The Shadow moved through the darkness of the buildings, seeing people inside their homes wondering if it was safe to go outside. He continued on his path, until he arrived at the Rochester energy plant.

Before Khan's takeover, the Rochester energy plant was already a well fortified area. Tall brick walls that surrounded the building, all the different generators and transformers made it into an electrical maze on the inside. Easy to defend and hard to break in.

The Shadow was ready to sneak in and find out how to get the information on where Khan would be hiding. The vigilante saw the ship land down inside the compound. With no other moment to waste, he began looking around to see what he was up against. It wasn't good. There were torches all over the place, and guards were armed with assault rifles and rocket launchers.

The Shadow spotted a truck going into the energy plant, that could be his ticket in. He quickly rolled under the truck and grabbed hold of it from underneath. The car drove up to the entrance and then stopped. It would be searched before it could enter. The Shadow focused his power, coating himself in the darkness, becoming invisible to the flashlights of the guards.

After passing the inspection it moved on. The truck was able to get to its destination, and the guards were none the wiser.

Once it stopped, The Shadow moved out of his hiding spot and went to look at what was inside. He kept to the darkness as he darted from one part of the building to another. He reached the central command office of the energy plant. There were large monitors that showed how the the energy to the kingdom as well as how some of the guards were going about their day.

The Shadow spotted some of the mercenaries walking out of the shipment ship, those were the ones he needed to speak to, privately.

* * *

One of the soldier's that had gotten off of the shipment ship went into the bathroom. He started to go about his business when he heard someone walking into the bathroom and go into the stall next to him.

"Hard day, ain't it?" came from the next stall.

"Um, yeah, I guess," the soldier replied.

"Makes you wonder why we're here," continued the voice.

"Well, better be the devil's right hand than being under his left foot," said the soldier. "Know what I mean?"

"I do," the voice replied. "But that just means you're closer to hell."

At this latest exchange of words, the soldier got out of his stall and pulled out his gun.

"Listen buddy, just cause you got a consciousness doesn't give you the right to act holier than thou," the soldier said as he moved to the other stall. "Here, Khan is king!" He said kicking the door open.

He aimed his gun at the inside but found the stall empty.

"What the-" the soldier began.

Before the soldier could finish the sentence, The Shadow kicked him into the toilet. The vigilante pressed the soldier into the toilet as he took the pistol from him.

"You know, it takes a special kind of person to attack someone with a gun when they don't share your ideals," The Shadow said before pulling the soldier to face him.

"I won't tell you anything," said the soldier.

"You will tell me... everything," The Shadow said as his eyes shined bright red.

* * *

The Shadow had returned to the mansion and was ready to tell the team what he found out.

"It appears that the supply shipments go to the blimps in different rotations, the ones that are the lowest in the air are the ones that get the first rotation and the ones at the top are the ones that are last," Lamont began. "In order to get into the shipment ships you need one of these ID cards then you have to follow a specific route to the blimps that are in rotation."

"So how do we use this to find Khan?" Margo asked. "We know that he's in one of those, but there's a lot of them."

"I think I can figure that part," Bruce said, pulling up one of the recorded broadcasts of the would be tyrant. "Pay attention to this scene."

The scene played out and the team paid attention to what was behind Khan. It showed the top of the CCT in the corner of the video.

"That landmark can give us an idea of where he is. Since the tower looks like a quarter of its size then that means that Khan resides at the top of the highest blimp," Bruce said.

"When is the next rotation?" Margo asked.

"That's in two days," Lamont said.

"We'll need a plan then, and I'll call Galespy," Bruce said.

* * *

The day had arrived, and they were ready to move in.

A truck with the supplies went into Rochester power plant before stopping before the gates for a revision. The guards were keeping a close look at the drivers and the underside of the truck.

"Alright, you can go in," said the guard before opening the gate.

Once the truck went into the power plant the man seating in the co-driver's seat looked around the area. He made sure that the guards weren't looking at them before turning to the driver. He nodded to the driver.

"Let's roll," said the driver before they both got out of the truck.

The two guards walked out of the truck and the co-driver hit the side of the car twice before moving to the back of the truck. From the underside of the truck emerged The Shadow, moving swiftly towards the landing zone and only leaving a couple of surprises for the guards in the western wall of the power plant.

* * *

The Shadow waited for the guards to get off of the ship before sneaking into the ship. The vigilante stood in the back of the ship, waiting for it to take off. A small squad of mercenaries entered the Bullhead before it began taking off from the landing platform.

A few minutes after taking off, The Shadow pulled out a hand radio.

"Your turn, Galespy," The Shadow said through the radio.

* * *

Back on the ground, one of the guards took off his mask and chief Galespy took out his own radio.

"Understood," Galespy replied as Bob took off his own mask.

"These fellas really need something better to wear," Bob said. "I was sweating like a sauna in this thing," He said holding up the mask before rubbing his horns.

"We'll tell it to Human Faunus Resources, Bob," Galespy said before pulling out a detonator. "Never thought I'd use this again. Regardless, let's do what youngsters say; let's blow up this taco stand," He said, pressing the button on the detonator.

Once the button was pressed, a large explosion shook the western wall of the power plant sending the guards into a panic. The guards darted into action in search of the cause of the explosion.

Once the guards were out of sight, Bob whistled at the back of the truck. From the boxes inside the back, officers began to pop out armed and ready to fight back.

"Once we take the power plant we gotta signal the rest of the guys to put their part into motion," Galespy said.

"You got it, chief," Bob said, pulling out a shotgun.

The chief and most of his officers went directly at the large concentration of guards while Bob and the rest went into the main building.

"Hands up, you bastards, you're under arrest!" Galespy called out as he aimed his rifle at the mercenaries along with his officers.

The mercenaries turned around and tried to open fire, but Galespy and his experienced officers were faster on the draw. Bullets flew through the air hitting their respective targets. After five short minutes, the gun fight was over. Galespy and his officers were able to take down most of those mercenaries that tried to kill them and take over the kingdom.

"Bob, what's you're six?" Galespy asked worriedly.

Back inside the power plant, Bob and his officers had finished disarming the last of the mercenaries.

"All clear here, chief," Bob replied as he and an officer went up to the control panel. "Just waiting for your orders, sir."

"Shut the lights down!" Galespy ordered through the radio. "All teams prepare to fire!"

Bob turned to the controls and pressed the large red button on the control panel.

* * *

Lights throughout the kingdom of Vale began to turn off, plunging the kingdom in darkness. The mercenaries that had been stationed near the border panicked as they began radioing for answers.

As uncertainty coursed through the city, Galespy radioed in the rest of his officers. With the shot of a flare they, the officers signaled the reinforcements.

Huntsmen and Huntresses from Beacon broke into the city with guns blazing, armed to the teeth for the battle for the fate of Vale.

* * *

Back inside the shipping bullhead, the mercenaries tried to go down to stop the uprising. But their unexpected stowaway had other plans in mind for the crew.

"Hello there," The Shadow said before pulling out a machine-gun.

The Shadow opened fire upon the crew before they could hear the alarm or the radio. In a swift movement, The Shadow moved to the cockpit and electrocuted the pilot. He took his place and began flying the bullhead towards Khan's place.

The Shadow landed the Bullhead at the top of the blimp. He began using the darkness of the night as cover before going into the zeppelin.

The Shadow went through the different corridors of the blimp before finding a large command center with a view to the kingdom below. In the middle of the real bridge was none other than the man that he was looking for.

Khan held on to a large wheel, as the holographic projection of Remnant glowed before him.

The Shadow took aim at the globe and shot it, turning off the hologram. Khan didn't even flinch at the sudden action.

"I knew you were not dead," Khan said, not taking his hands off the wheel. "A real warrior like yourself would never die in such a way. No, your fate is to die by my hand."

The Shadow dropped down, putting both of his pistols away.

"It's over, Khan. No more will you make the kingdom suffer," The Shadow said, as he walked towards his enemy.

"They only suffer because of their defiance," Khan said before finally turning to face The Shadow. "Once they accept me as their leader, I shall be a benevolent ruler."

"And then you'll expand your rule to all other corners of the world?" The Shadow asked, neither of them stopped looking at each other.

"Naturally, but I would not expect someone that hides in darkness to understand," Khan said.

"Then let us handle this like men," The Shadow said, unbuckling his holstered guns. "No more tricks. No more semblances. And no more weapons. Let's see how well you fight like a man." He said defiantly.

"As you wish," Khan said straightening his suit jacket.

Both warriors began circling one another, holding up their fists. They waited for the other one to make the first move, all that was happening under them was nothing but empty noise. They were seizing each other up, knowing fully well that this battle could be the last one that one of them would have. The kingdom was at stake and neither of them were willing to let the other get hold of it.

Almost by the signal of a none existing referee, they darted after each other.

They clashed punches. Kahn followed with a right hook to The Shadow's face. The Shadow blocked the punch with his left fore arm before grabbing his opponent from the left arm and flipping him away. The vigilante rushed the maniacal tyrant as he skid to a stop. Khan blocked The Shadow's kick with his fore arm before wrapping both of his arms around it and flinging the vigilante into a wall.

The Shadow picked himself up with a growl. Khan charged again with horizontal strikes and jabs to The Shadow's face. The vigilante blocked and dodged he attacks using his hands, bobbing and weaving until he found the opening. He then spotted Khan's leg moving and kicked him on the knee, bringing him down. Once Khan was kneeling, The Shadow slammed his own knee into Khan's face sending him back.

Khan felt the blood dripping down his nose as he charged at The Shadow, elbowing him in the stomach twice. The Shadow bend forwards, as the pain of his wounds echoed through him. Khan took this chance and punched the vigilante in the throat, sending him back into the controls wheezing for air.

"I commend you for making me bleed, shadow," Khan began, wiping the blood from his nose. "But this will not change anything. I rose from nothing but a legend, and I will not be struck down."

The Shadow held his throat in pain, as he took deep breaths as he slowly got back up to his feet. Just as he was about to charge Khan, the tyrant pulled out a detonator, forcing him to stop.

"What happened to 'no weapons'?" The Shadow demanded as he glared daggers to Khan.

"You didn't think that I would gamble away my throne in a mere fist fight, did you?" asked Khan almost mockingly, before pressing a button.

The Shadow narrowed his eyes as many red dots flashed to life.

"I thought you would have the guts to fight me like a man," The Shadow began. "But you are just a fool that thinks he's a king,"

Khan glared at The Shadow. His words had struck a nerve and he would not allow The Shadow to live.

"If you are so certain," Khan said, putting the detonator behind him. "Come and get it."

The Shadow took the initiative and darted towards Khan. Khan responded with a charge of his own. They began exchanging blows once again. The Shadow kept his arms up, defending against the attacks from his enemy. He caught one of the punches and used that chance to punch Khan across the face. The vigilante then grabbed hold of Khan's suit and flung him into the ground over his shoulder. Khan turned his body in an attempt to sweep the legs of The Shadow, bringing him down. Khan jumped high in the air readying an ax kick to slam into his opponent. The Shadow dodged it by the skin of his teeth by rolling away, but it didn't save him from Khan's kick to the ribs.

The Shadow rolled in pain as he attempted to get back up, holding his side, but he couldn't help but chuckle.

"What is so funny, you mongrel?" Khan demanded. "I am inches from victory, and I assure you that I will make sure that the little revolt that you started will be brought down to ashes!"

The Shadow had finally gotten to his feet and revealed that in his hand he had the detonator that Khan had placed on the ground.

"Funny you should mention ashes, Khan," The Shadow said.

Khan turned to where he had placed the detonator, and saw that it was there. But suddenly, right before his eyes it disappeared.

"All war is deception," The Shadow said, before triggering the activation of the bombs.

Right next to all the red dots timers began counting down from two minutes.

Khan looked at The Shadow as he took the wheel and spun it around, turning the blimp out into the ocean.

In a fit of rage, Khan charged at The Shadow in an attempt to recover his detonator and stop the explosion from happening. The Shadow held on to the detonator as tightly as he could as he began fighting once more against Khan. Khan came in swinging like a wild man, screaming like he was possessed, and forcing the vigilante to block and cover from the fierce attacks. The tyrant continued on his assault, forcing the vigilante to step back. In an attempt to break Khan's attacks, The Shadow dropped the detonator. Khan tried to catch it but that gave The Shadow all the opening he needed.

As Khan reached for the detonator, The Shadow sucker punched him across the face. He would not was this chance, he continued to wale on his opponent. The Shadow punched Khan over and over in the stomach and the face before grabbing him by the jacket. The vigilante pulled Khan towards the controls and slammed him into them. Khan tried to fight back but The Shadow continued punching him in the face, making him unable to move.

Just then, The Shadow noticed the timer was only twenty-five seconds from going off.

"Come on," Khan said. "Finish the fight,"

The Shadow punched Khan once more before grabbing hold of a pair of handcuffs and trapped Khan on the wheel.

"A captain always goes down with his ship," The Shadow said, as Khan struggled against the handcuffs.

The Shadow grabbed hold of his pistols and fired three times at the glass before him, shattering it. The strong currents of air clashed with the inside, sending glass flying everywhere inside. The vigilante turned to Khan once more before crushing the detonator under his foot.

"I'll make you suffer for this!" Khan sneered.

"I know," The Shadow said before jumping out of the blimp.

As The Shadow plummeted out of the blimp and into the darkness of the night, the explosives went off. The explosions extended from the bridge to the rest of the balloon, burning it and making it fall from the sky.

The Shadow got closer to the water, and just as he was about to hit the surface, a plane snatched him from the sky. The black clad vigilante held on to one of the plane's wings with whatever strength he had left.

"I figured you needed a way to safety," Bruce called from the pilot's seat.

The Shadow looked to see his grandfather, and couldn't help but smile.

"You sure know when to cut it close," Lamont replied.

"Let's get back to the mansion, we have a lot of work to do" Bruce said as they saw the different stacks of fire and smoke coming out of Vale.

"Yeah,"


	20. Epilogue

It had been two months.

Two months of constant work for those on both sides of the law.

The fall of Khan and his regime had rocked Vale to its core. Like a fresh wound that was slowly scarring, the the once great kingdom of Vale was pulling itself together. People were now trying to get back to their daily lives and do what they would usually do. Amongst those people were chief Galespy and the rest of the police department. They had been working harder than everyone else working side by side with Councilman York and another party to put the city back together.

Chief Galespy had just parked his car before walking towards the recently repaired VPD.

"At least one place is starting to look presentable," Galespy said.

"Excuse me, Chief Galespy," a voice called the older man from behind.

The chief of police turned around and saw that it was none other than Glynda Goodwitch. A kind smile appeared on the old man's face, as he enjoyed her appearances.

"Why, Ms. Goodwitch, how have you been?" Galespy asked. "Have you come here to see how I'm doing?"

"I'm afraid that I'm here on business," Glynda replied.

Galespy's smile dropped.

"Oh, what is it that Ozpin wants this time? As if I've got to ask," Galespy sighed.

"He would like to know how your department has been able to make such progress in such a short amount of time," Glynda said.

Amidst the chaos of the event that people started calling the Battle for Vale, several of the mercenaries were able to escape justice and formed their own groups to retain some control or profits that Khan had promised them. Over the course of the two months since the fall, the police and their partner had been trying to round them up.

"As I've told you before, Ms. Goodwitch," Galespy began. "We have been using good old fashion police work and the occasional phone call. If your boss decides to grace me with something else, I'll be on my way." He said before going into the police department with tranquility.

Glynda sighs, knowing that the chief of police was not going to give any information on the new partner that had been helping the police round up the remaining mercenaries.

* * *

In the torn up building of Pulp News, Margo worked on her newest news article. As the repairmen workers worked through the day to put the building back in one piece, Margo continued on writing her article about the biggest changes that the Rise and Fall of Khan had brought to the kingdom of Vale. She cracked her fingers as she had lost some practice in the last month.

It had been a while since she wrote her last article, Khan had made it clear that freedom of news was to be limited.

"Excuse me, Ms. Lane, but I have the pictures that you needed for the article," said a photographer.

"Thanks, Martin," Margo said, looking at the photographer. "Just another reason to finish this article."

"Hard to believe that this time last month, people were afraid to go out into the streets," Martin said.

"Yeah, I was huddled up with some friends during that time," Margo said as she continued typing.

Martin looked side to side before getting closer to Margo.

"Have you heard the rumors, Ms. Lane?" asked Martin.

"Which rumors, Martin?" Margo asked. "I hear a lot of them. It's my job,"

"The one that the police worked with The Shadow to take down Khan," Martin whispered. "It's crazy don't you think?"

"Well, the Huntsmen weren't exactly in the city when the blimp that Khan was on was taken out into the sea," Margo replied.

"But he is a vigilante," Martin said.

"Look, I don't agree with a lot of what he, or she, does," Margo explained. "But beggars can't be choosers. The police were doing their best but they needed a hand."

"Yeah, but I heard that they are still working together. That's crazy, isn't it?" Martin said.

"Maybe," called another voice from behind causing Martin to have a jump scare.

Margo smiled, knowing who it was. Martin looked back and saw Lamont Cranston standing there.

"Oh, Mr. Cranston, sorry I-I, um," Martin began.

"Don't sweat it kid, everyone's entitled to their own opinion," Lamont said. "Now get the pictures ready for the articles. And drop the Mr. part, I'm not that old."

"Yes, sir," Martin said.

"Don't call me sir," Lamont said before Martin left.

Once Martin had left, Margo smiled looking at Lamont.

"Did you have to scare him off like that?" Margo asked as she took a break from her work. "He was just being friendly."

"Maybe, but I thought you needed a had on getting rid of him," Lamont said.

"I was considering it, but something came up," Margo said before she turned her screen to show it to Lamont.

The screen showed Professor Ozpin making a press conference about how the Huntsmen should have a greater role in the kingdom and its government. Basically making the Huntsmen and Huntresses into some sort of secret police. Ever since the fall, Ozpin had been arguing with Councilman York to give his Huntsmen Emergency Powers to enforce the law. Which people were not taking too kindly towards.

"Looks like Ozpin is willing to make some big changes to the rebuilding kingdom," Margo said. "And make up for him and his Huntsmen being no shows."

Lamont narrowed his eyes as he feared that this would lead to trouble, as Ozpin was known to be a too passive aggressive figure.

"Yeah, but his main argument is the one that the police aren't enough. If we clear out the remains of the mercenaries, he won't have any ground to stand on," Lamont said.

"Guess it'll be another long night," Margo said before turning her screen once more and getting back to work.

"Yep, don't wait up," Lamont said.

* * *

Night had fallen and Councilman York was still working on paperwork in his office.

"This used to be so much easy when there were three of us," said York. "I gotta find someone to fill up the other spots, and fast,"

A knock caught York's attention, he let out a sigh and placed his papers on the table.

"Come in," York said before the door opened up. "Oh, it's you..."

* * *

Galespy and Bob stood at the top of the Police Department's building drinking coffee.

"He should be here soon," Bob said before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Has he ever been late?" Galespy asked.

"True," Bob replied.

"Gentlemen," a voice called to the two officers, forcing them to turn around.

The Shadow had arrived just in the nick of time.

"Let's get to work," The Shadow said, walking towards the officers.

"We were able to find the location of one of the mercenary groups," Chief Galespy said holding out a file and reading from it. "They are held up in an old closed subway tunnel underneath Chaser and 23rd street. We think that they're planning on moving soon, so we need to get them tonight. We're unaware of how many weapons they got, but we are ready to flush them out before they make a run for it."

"I'll take care of them, give me ten minutes then they are yours," The Shadow said.

"I'll get the boys ready, but there might be Huntsmen wanting to tag along," Bob added.

"I'll be long gone before they try anything," The Shadow replied. "We can win this war, we just have to try,"

Both officers of the law nodded before the vigilante disappeared into the darkness of the night to do his part.

* * *

Back inside Councilman York's office, York was rubbing his eyes as the man he didn't wish to talk to was before him.

"Good evening, Councilman York," Ozpin said.

"Ozpin, what can I do for you?" York asked politely.

"As you are aware, the people have very negative opinions on both me and my school as of late," Ozpin said. "Things appear to be at a slow pace with the reconstruction.

"Yes, I am aware of them. Most of these papers are about formal requests of, and I quote: 'kicking your ass out of your castle'," York said. "I have tried to explain the situation to them but they are understandably upset. I fear that they may not let this go so easily."

"Which is why we need to help the people understand that me and my huntsmen and huntresses are the best defense against the forces of darkness" Ozpin began.

* * *

In an abandoned subway tunnel, a group of mercenaries had been hoarding the weapons that they had and set up a small arms dealer operation. But at this moment, they were on the process of packing their things and leaving.

 _"We must help them see that for the kingdoms to thrive, they must be protected by trained champions."_

At that moment, the lights all shut off inside the tunnel. The mercenaries grabbed hold of their guns and turned on their lanterns searching for the source of the black out.

 _"Warriors that are elevated in the eyes of the people as true guardians. Guardians that fight in the light."_

 **HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!**

A dark laugh echoed through the tunnel forcing the mercenaries to huddle together in fear. Just then, from the darkness above, The Shadow dropped down slamming one of the mercenaries into the ground. The vigilante pulled out both of his pistols and fired at the mercenaries as they ran for cover.

* * *

"Which is why, I need your help," Ozpin continued. "My Hunt-"

"Children," York said, cutting Ozpin off before placing down his pen. "The word you are looking for is children." He said looking at Ozpin directly.

York stared Ozpin in the eye. His eyes telling one simple thing, no more.

"Ozpin, I have heard this speech of yours enough times to know where this goes. You keep speaking of some great evil or catastrophe that no one other than you and your school can stand against. And honestly I am tiered of it," York said.

* * *

The Shadow continued on firing at the mercenaries as he charged after them. He jumped in the air as the bullets of the mercenaries cut through the air. He twisted himself in the air, landing behind one of the mercenaries and slamming him into the ground. The Shadow fired another shot at another one of the mercenaries in the shoulder forcing him to drop his weapon.

 _"You have been inside that forsaken emerald tower of_ _yours for so long that you no longer see what's truly happening in the kingdom you're supposed to protect."_

The Shadow ducked under a knife that a mercenary swung before slamming the butt of the pistol on his throat, sending electric shocks into the body. He then grabbed the mercenary over his shoulder and threw him at another mercenary. The Shadow looked at his timer and fired a shot next to the entrance.

 _"That is why I can say with great frankness, that you couldn't have found someone that disagrees more with your schemes if you tried. If you truly get back the people's trust, you'll have to earn it."_

The entrance to the tunnel was busted down as Bob and his officers entered the subway armed to the teeth.

"POLICE! EVERYBODY DOWN!" Bob called holding up his shotgun.

The remaining mercenaries dropped their weapons as they saw that The Shadow was no longer amongst them and that they were surrounded.

Bob and his officers began cuffing and pulling out all the mercenaries into their patrols to take them downtown.

* * *

"The best way to truly help the people is by being one of them. Let them chose a real guardian, one of their own," York said. "Feeling the pulse of the living streets, and accepting all the sides of human nature."

Ozpin merely stared at the man before him, his grip on his cane tightened.

"Now, I ask you to think on what I've said," York said. "Because that is the only way you will have a saying on the kingdom's problems."

* * *

Far in the dark streets of the city, a woman walked down a dark alley. She was tumbling down as her face was red drunk. She held on to the brick wall next to her side in an attempt to regain her equilibrium. She then felt something wet on her hand. The woman looked at her palm and she quickly sobered up at the sight.

Blood.

She looked down, and saw a man stabbed to death laying on a pool of his own blood. The woman screamed as a figure with a pale white mask and curved horns stepped out.

"I am an honest signal."


End file.
